You feel good about your ability to create project estimates. You are handy with a spreadsheet, understand the calculations, and enjoy the research. Your estimating challenges are not about all of that. Your challenges come from a condition known as ‘estimating while being human.’ There are some things we do or expectations that we encounter […]
Your project might already be in motion, but that does not mean you cannot change your processes and approaches. Continuous improvement is your responsibility. Don’t just watch what happens as your team works toward project completion, be strategic and when you see opportunities for positive changes, make them! These eight recommendations are a good place […]
Recently my team and I tried out a modified hybrid method of doing project estimation. I’d like to share it with you today. This method is essentially a combination with the Delphi method of estimation that I have used before, and a agile method of estimation. Check out my friend Travis’ post on Cost Estimation […]
Guest post by Travis Anderson Earn PDUs while learning how Oracle Primavera is adamant about riding the world of project failure. Get started by visiting the registration screen at Oracle Primavera Enterprise PPM Virtual Summit. http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/primavera2010/#home Once you get your login information, go to the Auditorium and watch Joel Koppelman, Sr. VP & GM of […]
As 2010 draws to a close, the need for predictions about what will happen in 2011 about.? I have even offered my own guesses and plans here, here, and here. For this year-end post however, I offer some tools of skepticism to you, dear reader.? When it comes to predicting the future, we are all […]
Scheduling is what project management is all about, right? Among the plethora of project management tools available, what aspect is most widely promoted? Jumping right into MS Project or any other scheduling tool is a mistake. Projects like this are built on very unstable footing, and it’s likely they will fall apart in some way. […]
Complexity in project estimation is important, and yet many if not most project managers seem to ignore it from what I’ve seen. I have been thinking and reading up quite a bit on relative methods for eliciting estimates for projects. I’ve enjoyed Planning Poker mostly as a means to get a team working more as […]
The pre-frontal cortex of our brains can mislead us. ?Big time. I am continuing my journey into the nature of project estimation and the irrationality of the human mind, in order to get better at it. ?A few of the books I’ve listened to over the past few weeks include: The Black Swan: The Impact […]
Glen Alleman recently pointed me to a paper by Jorge Aranda among other material on software estimation. I sat down and read Anchoring and Adjustment in Software Estimation and it was well worth my time. To cut to the chase, the subjects were tasked to give estimates for software tasks in a controlled manner, in […]
Project estimation can be a headache for new project managers. ?There are lots of opinions out there and not much that weighs various methods…rather you find people who feel strongly about one way or another. ?To give a quick overview of some ideas and then call for your input, I recorded this video. ?Please leave […]