York Technology Association

Excellent Estimating The Key to Happy Clients!

Robert McGeachyKintyre Consulting Incorporated

http://www.mcgeachy.ca

Agenda1. Why focus on Estimating?2. Time Management Essentials3. Estimating Basics4. Estimating Reality Checks5. Best Practices6. PM SaS software review

Why Focus on Estimating?Top PM Maturity Areas1. Project scheduling by organization standard

, 2. Issue tracking and regular core team

communication, 3. Risk & Contingency Tracking 4. Requirements/Scope tracking 5. Compare "Estimate verses Actual" time

spent on a Project,

Project Management PrioritiesYTA Members identified these priorities:

Requirement/Scope √Scope Management/Change Management √Estimation and Actual effort tracking

What Helps Projects Succeed?*

1. Executive support2. User involvement3. Experienced project manager4. Clear business objectives5. Minimized scope6. Standard software infrastructure

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7. Firm basic requirements 8. Formal methodology 9. Reliable estimates10. Other criteria, such as small milestones, proper planning, competent staff, and ownership

*The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS,” .

Importance of Project SchedulesTime is one of the biggest PM challengesLeast amount of flexibility; it passes no

matter what happens on a projectSchedule issues main reason for conflicts on

projects, especially during the second half of projects

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Time Management Essentials Clear RequirementsActive SponsorshipTime allocated to do planningDiscipline to do the planningTool to help with input and scheduleExperience with estimatingLeadership to ensure bumps along the way

don’t derail the project

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PMI Project Time Management ProcessesDefining activitiesSequencing activitiesEstimating activity resourcesEstimating activity durationsDeveloping the scheduleControlling the schedule

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Resources are people, equipment, and materials

Consider important issues in estimating resourcesDifficulty of specific activities on this project?Organization’s history in doing similar

activities?Are the required resources available?

A resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project’s resources by category and type

Estimating Basics:Activity Resources

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Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time

Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task

Effort does not normally equal durationPeople doing the work should help create

estimates, and an expert should review them

Activity Duration Estimating

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Instead of providing activity estimates as a discrete number, such as four weeks, it’s often helpful to create a three-point estimateAn estimate that includes an optimistic, most

likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as three weeks for the optimistic, four weeks for the most likely, and five weeks for the pessimistic estimate

Three-point estimates are needed for PERT and Monte Carlo simulations

Three-Point Estimates

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Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project

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First review the draft schedule or estimated completion date in the project charter

Prepare a more detailed schedule with the project team

Make sure the schedule is realistic and followed

Alert top management well in advance if there are schedule problems

Reality Checks on Scheduling

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First blush review:Is the budget reasonable

Time, resources and hard dollars.How much of the scope is fuzzy?How much is new to the team?How good is the client?

Will you get time with them? Will decisions get made in a timely manner

If you answer “No” or “I’m not sure” - > ADD CONTINGENCY

Best Practices: High Level

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Where do you get your estimate fromPast experience

Task Effort estimates should be granular Reporting of tasks should be rolled up depending on

the audience. quote should be for max of 4 days minimum .5 days How Low do we go? Goldilocks theory: Don’t want too

many lines in an estimate but not too few either

If your resources don’t have any experience in an area you need to add buffer – possibly 100% extra

Best Practices: Detail Estimates

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Strong leadership helps projects succeed more than good PERT charts

Project managers should use:Empowerment – allow developers to improve on

estimatingIncentives – celebrate good estimatingDiscipline – ensure it is done for each projectIdentify contingency plans – are the most critical

requirements done first? If you are behind schedule do you know what can be dropped?

Negotiation – ensure good communication with sponsor

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Best Practices: Estimate Leader

Excellent Estimating makes Happier Clients

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Managing Client Expectations is key to a happy client

Software for facilitating communications helps people exchange schedule-related information

Decision support models help analyze trade-offs that can be made

Project management software can help in various time management areas

Using Software to Assist in Time Management

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Many people misuse project management software because they don’t understand important concepts and have not had training

You must enter dependencies to have dates adjust automatically and to determine the critical path

You must enter actual schedule information to compare planned and actual progress

MS Project is still the standard for small to medium sized projects, however, Sas is becoming great alternative

Words of Caution on Using Project Management Software

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SaS Project Management Review

http://online-project-management-review.toptenreviews.com/