Quick Tip To Improve Estimates

Could your team members improve their estimates? My own estimates are consistently too low by a factor of 1.5. How do I know? Well, I track my time on a project. At the end of the project, I compare my total hours to the sum of the original estimates in the Resource Sheet as shown below. From this, I can determine my personal estimating factor that is useful for future estimates: 21/14 = 1.5. You can do the same for your team members:

Improving Estimates

 

This helpful tip was taken from Eric Uyttewaal’s book, Forecast Scheduling, now available for purchase.

Written by Eric Uyttewaal
Eric is a thought leader on project, program, and portfolio management. He spends most of his time using software from Microsoft. He has authored seven well-known textbooks including ‘Forecasting Programs,’ 'Forecast Scheduling with Microsoft Project 2010/2013/Online,’ and ‘Dynamic Scheduling with Microsoft Project 2000/2002/2003.’ He founded ProjectPro, which specializes in Microsoft Project, Project Server and Project Online. Eric developed several Add-ins with his team that enhance the capabilities of Microsoft Project in creating better schedules (Forecast Scheduling App), managing cross-project dependencies (CrossLinksPro), identifying and documenting the Critical Path (PathsPro) and creating S-curve reports (CurvesPro). He was president of PMI-Ottawa in 1997. Eric has received awards from PMI in 2009, from MPUG in 2012, and from Microsoft from 2010 until 2017 (MVP).
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