28 June 2005
Estimating Realistic Project Deadlines
Posted by Mikhail Esteves under: General .
Bert Webb on a system for calculating realisting project deadlines:
Many project managers can be myopic in this area and not see the potential pot holes in the road ahead of their projects. Being aware of these stumbling blocks and developing a system to accurately project deadlines can bring projects in on time and underbudget.
When developing this project plan, it is important to begin to think about the obstacles and possible delays that one may expect during the project, and build those into the mini-deadlines that are attached to each next action. In fact, the creation of contingency plans for addressing those obstacles should be automatically be developed. One might never have to use them, but if an obstacle is hit, there is no time lost in switching to plan B.
He also offers a helpful Word template for a Project Task Map as well as a formula to calculate the best project duration — Optimistic (with no setbacks), Pessimistic (with every possible obstacle) and a probable estimate (a realistic scenario).
