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- No matter the size or budget,
project estimation can be a daunting task.
To create a workable estimate, you need to know your team,
deliverables, tasks and processes
like the back of your hand.
You also have to be comfortable asking questions
to figure out the things you don't know.
Project estimation is the process of forecasting the time,
cost and resources needed to deliver a project.
It typically happens during project initiation or planning
and takes the project scope, deadlines
and potential risks into account.
Every business has a budget
and wants to know if a project is worth the cost
before they invest in it.
A project estimate gives you and your stakeholders
a general idea of how much time, effort and money
it'll take to get the job done.
That makes it easier to build a feasible project budget
and plan so you can set your team
and organization up for success.
Sometimes project managers focus too much on the numbers
and not enough on the people.
Good project estimation techniques
are built on solid working relationships.
That's because the more you know about someone's work
and process, the easier it is to estimate their work.
If you want to be even better at estimating projects,
invite your team to be a part of the estimation process.
A stronger understanding of and collaboration with your team
will help your projects come in closer
to your project budgets.
To estimate projects successfully,
you must engage in the work.
Having a solid understanding
of what each and every team member actually does
on a daily basis can help you avoid problems down the road.
So how are you supposed to understand Jim's role on the team
and how his work will impact an estimate?
Well, you have to talk to Jim.
As a project manager, one of the best things you can do
is be genuine and honest about what you don't know.
If you really want to know how or why
someone does their job, just ask them.
It might sound silly but most project managers
feel like they're supposed to know everything.
You don't and that's okay.
Remember, it's better to admit what you don't know
and ask questions from the get-go.
This not only gives you an opportunity
to connect with your team on an individual level,
It also helps you understand the inner workings
of different types of projects
and their appropriate budgets.
After all, figuring out the steps
one person takes to create a deliverable
will work wonders in helping you calculate a true
and accurate project estimate.
Once you've got a good grasp on who does what and how
you need to figure out how all of your projects
moving parts fit together or could fit together.
You may work for a company that abides by a singular method
like Agile or Waterfall.
In that case, you should study that process,
know all of your dependencies and run with your estimates.
If you work in a place that uses a hybrid approach
and likes to experiment,
make it your mission to understand how things are done
and what might happen to your project schedule
If you shift things around.
Do everything you can to understand your process,
but don't just read a book or a manual.
Have conversations with the people
who have a stake in your project and feel free to ask how,
why and when things are done.
The more you know,
the better you can strategize with your team or clients
to find alternate ways to make project estimates work
and save on effort.
It's always important to include your team
in any discussions related to project estimation.
Be sure to talk about the process you'd envision taking on
when estimating projects,
as it will impact how you think about effort and scope.
You never wanna sign on for a project
your team isn't invested in.
No matter where you work, things will change.
A career in project management
means you have to always stay on top of trends, changes
and deliverables in your industry.
It isn't easy but it's worth it
because it will directly affect your success
as a project manager.
So how can you improve your project estimation process?
Well, approach your job as though it's continuing education,
read relevant trade publications, websites and blogs,
attend training and networking events.
There are also a growing number of local meetups
and conferences on project management and estimation.
It's also important to understand different ways
to estimate projects
so you can find an approach that works best for you.
Here are just a few project estimation techniques
you may wanna learn a little bit more about.
Top-down estimating.
This estimation technique takes a broad look
at the project as a whole,
then breaks the total estimate down
into major phases of work.
It's typically used when you have limited information
about the project to work from.
Bottom-up estimating.
The bottom of approach is considered more accurate
than top-down estimation
because it starts with a detailed list of tasks
and estimates each step.
Individual task estimates are then combined
to create an overall project estimate.
Analogous estimating.
This top-down technique compares the current project
to similar past projects
to quickly produce a general project estimate.
Parametric model estimation.
Parametric modeling also uses past projects
to inform new project estimates.
It takes forecasting a step further by applying past data
to current projects backs for more accurate cost estimation.
Three-point estimating.
This approach estimates a project
based on three different scenarios,
best case, worst case and most likely.
Estimates for all three scenarios are then added up
and divided by three to generate a simple average.
Without a doubt,
historical data can help you with new projects.
When history is documented, you can analyze the information
to help you create better estimates.
A great place to start is by asking your team
to track their time on tasks.
This will give you a better sense
of a project's overall level of effort.
It's not about playing big brother
to make sure people are doing their work,
it's about being honest about what it takes
to get the job done while also being profitable.
Of course, every project is unique,
but seeing how long your team spent on a certain task
or deliverable,
will give you a sense for estimate similar task
on a new project.
As project managers, we tend to underestimate project tasks,
thinking we're doing our clients and team a favor,
but underestimating a project does everyone a disservice
and causes stress when budgets and timelines
go over their estimates.
Check your track time
and use it to create a realistic project estimate.
If nothing else, review your project history
to make sure you're not habitually underestimating
project costs or hours.
Whether you're estimating a project
based on our request for proposal,
a discussion or a brief written message,
you need to know every possible detail of the project
before you can provide a realistic estimate.
This often means that you have to ask more questions.
Asking the right questions,
enables you to create a project estimate
based on what your client needs,
not what you think they need.
So take time to understand the triple constraints
that could cause your project to go over budget,
time, cost, and scope.
If you keep track of these three things,
you'll be a better project estimator.
Here are some things to think about
when estimating project time and budget accurately.
What's the goal of the project?
How will you and your client determine
if the project is successful?
What returns will you and your clients see
as a result of the project?
Who will participate and from the client side?
What range of services does the project require?
What's your client's budget for the project?
Is there any technology involved?
If so, what is that technology?
Does your client employ anyone
with expertise on the topic?
What's the timeline for the project
and will your client require your services
after your work is complete?
This list could go on and on,
depending on the level of information you're provided.
Be persistent and get the answers you need,
and if your client isn't inclined to answer every question,
take that as a sign.
If answering important questions now
is too much to help you form a good estimate,
will being a good partner when the project is underway
be too much for them too?
Use your judgment in this respect,
not every estimate becomes a real project,
so not every request needs to become a real estimate.
If you think about a project,
you can naturally break it down into phases, tasks,
and sub tasks.
If you can map it all out
and apply a time estimate to each element,
you should be able to create a solid project estimate.
There's a project planning and estimation technique
called the work breakdown structure that makes it easy.
A work breakdown structure is the deliverable
oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components.
It provides a framework for detailed cost estimation,
as well as guidance for schedule development and control.
Creating a work breakdown structure for any plan
or set of tasks,
helps you get granular about the work that needs to be done
on any given project.
TeamGantt makes it easy to set up
and estimate a potential project.
In fact, it gives you a more formalized way
to outline your work breakdown structure
and calculate a project's time and effort.
You can estimate project timelines based on effort
and assign resources to tasks in your Gantt chart.
From there, you can schedule people and tasks
against other project work.
Let's take a closer look at how hourly estimation works
in TeamGantt.
First, make sure estimated hours is enabled on your project
by going to menu, project settings, enable hours
and selecting Yes.
Note here that hourly estimation is only available
on advanced plans.
Once you've confirmed hourly estimation is enabled
on your project, you're ready to add estimates to tasks
in your Gantt chart.
To assign hours to a task, simply click into the text field
in the estimated hours column and enter your estimate.
If you don't see the estimated hours column
for your project click view,
estimated hours to enable this column on your Gantt chart.
One of the biggest benefits of using hourly estimation
in TeamGantt is being able to determine
your team's workload more accurately.
To do this you'll need to take project estimation
one step further by adding estimated hours
to the people assigned to the tasks.
There are three different ways to add hourly estimates
to people or labels.
It all depends on your particular project scenario.
Option one, assign both users and estimated hours
to a task at the same time.
Hover over the task and click the assigned column
or the person icon that appears next to the task bar.
Next, select the resources you'd like to assign to the task
and enter either the average hours per day or total hours.
The other field will populate automatically.
Option two, add estimated hours
after users have already been assigned to a task.
Hover over the estimated hours column,
then click into the text field
to enter the total estimated hours for the task.
A pop-up window will appear
asking if you'd like to adjust the hours
for the users or labels assigned to the task.
Option three, assign people to tasks
after estimated hours have already been added.
First hover over the task and click on the assigned column
or the person icon that appears next to the task bar.
Next click either the fix button
at the bottom of the user assignment window,
or simply select users to assign hours to.
Now that you've assigned estimated hours to your team,
you'll have an even better understanding
of just how busy everyone is.
Click the availability tab
found at the bottom of your projects Gantt chart
and toggle to hours per day.
Any day that includes over eight hours of work
will automatically be highlighted in red
to indicate a potential overload.
Ready to dig in and estimate a project of your own?
Start with some practice
so you'll feel confident in your estimating skills.
Create an example project of your own
and list out all the steps that go into completing it,
then run it by one of your team members
to see what they think.
Did you miss anything?
Did you underestimate the hours?
Doing a test run will help you prepare
for your first real estimate
or hone your project estimation skills for your next one.
There's no right or wrong way to create a project estimate.
Your approach to estimating projects
will include a mixture of project knowledge,
historical review, client inquisition,
and a ton of gut instinct.
And that's it for this video on estimating projects.
If you found it helpful,
I'd love it If you could return the favor
and hit the like button
and don't forget to subscribe to our channel
so you don't miss any of our videos.
Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time.
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