Once the tasks within the project have been defined, the resources required by each task must be determined. To do this, we consult the PMBOK's Estimate Activity Resources process. PMBOK, 5th Edition, Section 6.4, "Estimate Activity Resources" Estimate Activity Resources is the process of estimating the type and quantities of material, human resources, equipment, or... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Project estimating requires predicting the future. Like ancient prophets and soothsayers, today's project managers are experts in telling people what is going to happen. The key to success, then, is to ensure that what actually happens is the same as the estimate. This might seem like magic sometimes, but it requires strong project cost estimation... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Almost every project requires an estimate. Since a project is, by definition, temporary, somebody must approve a budget for it. Which means they must know how much to approve. The available types of estimates can be categorized into the following groups: Accuracy Source of Data Estimating techniques Accuracy In many industries, project estimates start very... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Once the project has been divided into tasks and resources assigned to those tasks, the next step is to determine the task durations. This may seem trivial, but its importance cannot be understated because these durations will be used to construct the project schedule. Just like the tiny O-rings that brought down the space shuttle... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Top Down estimating is a project estimating technique whereby the overall project is estimated first, and individual tasks are apportioned from it. You start from the top of the pyramid and work downwards. This type of project budgeting usually occurs when there is a fixed budget and/or the scope of the project must fit within... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Bottom up estimating is the project management technique of estimating individual tasks and then combining them into an overall project estimate. Often the individual project team members who will be performing the task provide the estimates, because they are in a better position to estimate a task that they will be working on. Types of... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Parametric estimating is a guaranteed inclusion on the PMP Exam. This article is assured to give you at least one point (but more likely four or five). Parametric estimating is a project estimation technique whereby a unit rate is used and multiplied by the number of units. For example: A house building project is estimated... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer