PMcrunch

[tag-tec]Task estimating[/tag-tec] is a critical skill for [tag-dir]project managers[/tag-dir] and [tag-dir]project teams[/tag-dir]. We cannot manage what we cannot estimate. However, realistically, it is very difficult to be able to estimate every possible task accurately.

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“Managing an IT project is like juggling chunks of Jell-O: It’s neither easy nor pretty.” So it says in an excellent article on IT Project Management is CIO magazine. The article goes on to say, very accurately I think, that “Information technology is especially slippery because it’s always moving, changing, adapting and challenging business as we know it.”

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Many project management positions are just that — positions managing projects. However, many other positions seemingly in project management are much more positions in programmatics. They involve tracking, reporting, working with metrics, and passing information on to decision makers. While, often, there is a need for these functions, there, often, also is not.

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It has been said many times by many people that the only constant in life is change. As project and program managers, we know that we must accept and recognize this fact in our day to day activities. Much has also been written about resistance to change. As we start this new year, it is a good idea to think for a bit about change and our approach to it.

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Leaders must be able to depend on their people — especially the commitments they make. Projects and programs are built on estimates from the people we depend upon. When there’s a pattern of delay, or poor estimates, intervention is required.

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All professionals – Project Managers, Program Managers, Executives, leaders of all kinds -  worry at times, and some more than others.  Worrying a lot or a little is actually a controllable habit.  Worrying a lot is little more than trading your peace of mind and taking a negative view of the future.  The urge to [...]

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Thomas Edison was the quintessential mistake maker. He believed that the more mistakes he made, the more wrong answers and wrong solutions he could eliminate and, therefore, the closer he came to the correct solution to his problems. In management and on projects, on one hand, we seek to minimize mistakes but it is important to recognize when “mistakes” can actually be beneficial and produce positive outcomes. Indeed, we should not be afraid to make mistakes but rather should try to control and leverage the process. The project portfolio management process is an ideal place to formally do this.

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“Culture” has a lot of impact on the performance of work on a project. Therefore, cultural considerations are very important when estimating the work effort. Cultures are not limited to countries or regions; they are just as important within organizations that share virtually the same location and language.

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Here are four keys to accurately estimating task duration for projects. The use of these varies from project to project and on each project type but nonetheless these four keys will provide a high degree of confidence that your risk is limited as to duration of tasks.

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The PMBOK specifies that there is a process for Activity and Resource Estimating. There are a variety of nuances to this process and it is very important to a project’s success that project team members have the skills to produce accurate estimates.

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