What Is Work Performance Information?

Work Performance Information is the analyzed version of Work Performance Data — it is the data that has been compared against the project management plan, baselines, and targets to produce meaningful performance insights. In PMBOK 8, Work Performance Information is the output of the Monitor and Control Project Work process. It includes computed EVM metrics (CV, SV, CPI, SPI, EAC, ETC, TCPI), analysis of deliverable status, issue and risk status summaries, and corrective action recommendations. Work Performance Information is what gets communicated to stakeholders in Work Performance Reports — it is the interpreted, analyzed layer between raw data and executive communication.

What's Inside This Work Performance Information Example

This Work Performance Information example covers Project Phoenix — MCG's $72,250 website launch, March 17 to June 13, 2025. The spreadsheet contains 13 weekly performance information summaries, each including:

• EVM Metrics: PV, EV, AC, CV, SV, CPI, SPI, EAC, ETC, TCPI, and VAC for each week
• Deliverable Status: Completed, in progress, and not started work packages vs. plan
• Issue Status Summary: Open, in-progress, and resolved issues count, with critical path impact assessment
• Risk Status Summary: Active, triggered, and closed risks; top 3 risks by current score
• Change Request Status: CRs pending, approved, and rejected; impact of approved CRs on baselines
• Performance Trend: CPI and SPI trend chart showing 4-week rolling average
• Corrective Action Recommendations: Specific recommended actions to address performance gaps, with owner and target date

How Alex Morgan Used This Work Performance Information

The Work Performance Information was the primary analytical input to Alex Morgan's weekly status reports. The three-layer process — raw data collection Friday morning, performance information analysis Friday afternoon, status report writing Friday evening — ensured that every status report was based on analyzed facts, not impressions.

Two Work Performance Information findings shaped the project's most important decisions:

• Week 6 CPI 0.94 + SPI 0.97: Both metrics below 1.0 simultaneously. The performance information analysis identified the cause (content migration underestimate), quantified the EAC impact ($76,900 vs. $72,250 baseline), and generated the corrective action recommendation: "Initiate CR-002 to descope non-critical legacy page migration." Alex brought this analysis to Riley Park on Monday, with the recommendation already formed. The decision was made in a 20-minute meeting. Without the performance information analysis, Alex might have presented the problem without a solution — a common PM failure mode.
• Week 10 TCPI 0.91: The To-Complete Performance Index of 0.91 meant the project needed to spend at a CPI of only 0.91 on remaining work to meet the amended baseline. Since the team's actual CPI was 1.07, the TCPI analysis confirmed that the project was very likely to finish under budget. Alex used this insight to authorize the UX Designer to spend an additional 8 hours on post-launch QA support — an investment that the TCPI analysis showed the budget could absorb.

Download and Customize

This Work Performance Information example is available as a free download. Use it as a reference to build your own performance information analysis template, or start with the blank template and apply EVM calculations to your project's weekly data.

• Download the Work Performance Information Template — PMBOK 8 (blank, ready to use)
• Read the article: Work Performance Information in PMBOK 8 — Guide and Best Practices

Work Performance Information Example: Key Takeaways

The most important insight from Project Phoenix's Work Performance Information is the Week 6 analysis: two metrics below 1.0, an EAC above the baseline, and a corrective action recommendation — all in one analytical framework, reviewed on a Friday afternoon, enabling a sponsor decision on Monday morning. That 72-hour turnaround from data to decision is what makes Work Performance Information the most operationally important artifact in the PMBOK 8 monitoring and control performance domain. Raw data does not enable decisions. Performance information — analyzed, compared to plan, and paired with recommended actions — does. The two are not the same artifact, and treating them as identical is the difference between a project team that firefights and a project team that leads.

Want to go deeper? The PMBOK Guide 8th Edition is the definitive reference for modern project management. Get your copy and use it alongside these examples to build a solid, practical understanding of every performance domain.