Discrete Effort, Apportioned Effort and Level of Effort (LOE) are the 3 types of activities used in Earned Value Management (EVM) to measure work performance.

Discrete Effort

Discrete effort is an activity that can be linked to a specific WBS output, so discrete effort can be planned and regulated and that yields a specific output (product, module, deliverable...).

Characteristics:

• Physical, tangle end product or deliverable.
• Preferred category of work because objective.

Some examples of discrete effort include building a specific piece of software, creating a product guideline, analyzing/visualizing data etc.

Apportioned Effort

Apportioned Effort is work that cannot be directly associated to a WBS component or a project deliverable. The term 'apportion' means to divide or share (e.g. measure as a factor, e.g., 10% of discrete tasks). Apportioned Effort has a direct and supportive relationship to the Discrete Effort.

Characteristics:

• Intangible
• Dependent on discrete tasks and other work.
• Measure as a factor, e.g., 10% of discrete tasks.

The existence of apportioned effort relies specifically and directly on the performance of other efforts. Examples of Apportioned Effort include Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC) and inspection activities. That quality assurance division is specifically and wholly reliant on the performance of the development team as a whole.

Level Of Effort (LOE)

Level of Effort is a support-type project activity that does not produce tangible outcomes that can be measured objectively.

Characteristics:

• No more than 20% of the budget as LOE.
• Has no specific product or deliverable.
• Measure by passage of the time.

Examples of LOE include planning, project management, partner management, coordination, tool/artifact creation, seller or customer liaison, project cost accounting, maintenance of equipment and administrative work (incl. paperwork) to support projects.