We keep changing the baseline to hide variance. How should rebaselining work?
Baseline manipulationPreserve the original commitment and change history while approving a new baseline only for a justified reason. A new baseline should improve control, not erase evidence of prior performance.
What to do now
- Confirm the reason for rebaselining
- Assess remaining scope and forecasts
- Obtain the required authorization
- Retain comparisons with prior baselines
When to escalate
Escalate when
Rebaselining is proposed mainly to conceal poor performance.
Who decides
The sponsor or formally delegated governance body
Example
A major approved scope reduction creates a new baseline while reports retain the original delivery comparison.
Mistake to avoid
Resetting every late task to today and calling the project on track.
Prevent a repeat
Review overdue decisions and confirm that decision makers have the authority and evidence they need.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Approvals
- Documents
- Projects
Attach the decision brief and evidence to a configured approval route only after confirming the actual authority and delegation rules. See the platform
Related cases
- A governance committee has no quorum. Can the project continue?Invalid decision process
- A new sponsor wants to cancel the project. What should the team provide?Project termination decision
- Our dependency dates keep changing. How do we protect the project?Volatile external readiness
- Developers keep adding new libraries. What should we control?Unmanaged software dependencies