Schedule Changes Dashboard

The Changes view within SmartPM helps you visualize and analyze how your schedule evolves between updates, showing which parts of the plan were modified and how those changes relate to project health.

To view the Changes Dashboard:

1. Click the name of the project you want to analyze from the Project List.
2. Click Analysis from the top navigation bar.
3. Click Changes from the left navigation bar.
4. The Schedule Changes Over Time graph will display the number of changes made between schedule updates. They are broken out by types:
   1. Gray bars represent the total number of activities in each update
   2. Overlaid lines show counts of specific change types.
   3. To hide any change type, click the name from the bottom of the graph.
       
      

To gain further insight into a specific metric, click any number in the Change Table to see the details of the changes in that category during that time period. 

These changes are measured update to update, not cumulatively from the baseline. 

Tracked Changes Include:

Best Practice for using the Change Analysis:

• Start with Critical Changes: Changes to the activities on the critical path will have the most influence on end date shifts
• Rebaseline when needed: If a high volume of changes occurs between updates, your schedule may effectively be a “new” plan. Consider rebasing so comparisons remain meaningful.
• Pinpoint accelerations and compression: Use the change log to identify where changes were made to bring the project back in line with target dates, and whether those adjustments led to schedule compression.
• Investigate root causes: Drilling into the details helps you understand which activities or logic shifts caused major changes (re-sequencing, duration edits).
• Flag for stakeholder review: Mark significant changes for later discussion or deeper analysis with your team or in SmartPM’s change analysis features.