The Project Coach

In my last article on estimation, I talked about creating consistent estimates by establishing a scale, where for every type of work you do, and for a range of complexity levels (i.e. low – medium – high), you record pre-set values that can be plugged in to your estimates.  What I was in fact describing was a complexity model.  In this article I will describe how as a team you can build your own complexity model for your development organization to govern your estimates. › Continue reading…

In my last article, “Is it bigger than a breadbox”, I talked about the three points in a project when estimates are usually delivered.  The topic of that article was the rough order of magnitude (or ROM) estimates generally given during the project selection process or at project initiation.  Those estimates can have +- 50% margin of error in them due to lack of information.  Once the project is approved, the team begins working on scope definition artifacts, developing first a high level, then a detailed scope statement, and a work breakdown structure to establish a scope baseline.  What I want to discuss in this article is a method to derive a planning estimate at a point where the high level scope statement is created, but before the detailed scope definition or WBS artifacts are finalized. › Continue reading…