Speaker A
A project is a desire to obtain a result, whatever it may be. The project is therefore located in the future, and any figure concerning it can only be conjecture, or more precisely, an estimate. Hello and welcome to this new
Learn the project estimation process, its inputs, outputs, and best practices to effectively plan budgets, schedules, and resources.
Key Takeaways
- Estimating is a continuous and essential activity in project management.
- Accurate estimates enable better decision-making and project control.
- Both project details and estimation context are critical inputs for reliable estimates.
- Outputs should clearly communicate assumptions, precision, and estimated values or ranges.
- Applying experience, common sense, and transparency improves estimate quality.
Summary
- A project is future-oriented, and any figures related to it are estimates.
- Estimating is crucial throughout the project lifecycle, from initial budget and schedule definition to ongoing updates.
- Estimates help position the project against its objectives, including cost and completion time.
- Initial estimates define the budget and reference schedule, guiding project planning.
- Estimation also supports planning resource needs, including human and material resources.
- Estimates are key to deciding whether to launch a project, highlighting their importance for project managers.
- The estimation process involves inputs (project info and estimation context), outputs (hypotheses, precision, value/range), and tools/methods.
- Inputs include project charter, hypotheses, project description, reason for estimate, and allocated time/resources.
- Outputs include a set of assumptions (including exclusions), precision, and an estimated value or range.
- Good practices include using common sense, leveraging experience and analogies, and clearly stating assumptions and precision.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Project Estimation
- 00:13Importance of Estimating in Projects
- 00:43Estimating for Budget and Schedule
- 01:00Continuous Estimation During Project Execution
- 01:51Reasons Why Estimating is Important
- 02:11Estimating Resource Requirements
- 02:29Estimates and Project Decision Making
- 03:26The Estimation Process: Inputs and Outputs
- 04:53Good Practices for Effective Estimation
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
easy project management video. FR - the blog that helps you succeed in all your projects. Estimating is a very important activity in a project, although underestimated (if you allow me the pun...). It occurs throughout the life cycle of a project,
Speaker A
a project, in different forms.
Speaker A
First of all, to define budget and initial schedule. The references. Then, during the implementation, successive estimates will make it possible to position the project in terms of its objectives: when do we plan to finish the project and at what cost, and is it
Speaker A
in line with the objectives? As you can see, we estimate all the time on a project, each new piece of information being new data to update previous estimates. You are now beginning to understand why estimating is important. Let's examine the main reasons in detail.
Speaker A
First of all, as we have already mentioned, the estimate makes it possible to evaluate the duration and cost of a project, and thus to define the initial references, which are the budget and the reference schedule.
Speaker A
The estimate also allows you to plan work: how many people, for how long, and when. This goes hand in hand with the estimation of resource requirements: human resources, of course, but also material resources. Finally, the estimates make it possible to decide whether or not to launch a project. As you can see,
Speaker A
estimates help to decide, and this is where they take on all their importance! The decision is at the heart of the job of project manager. Let's now look at the estimation process. Estimation can indeed be seen as a process, with its input data, its
Speaker A
output data, and its tools and methods. In entries, we will have two main categories: - what is related to the thing to be estimated (whether it is euros, days, carrots, or potatoes), with in particular: the project charter, the hypotheses, the description of the project, in short, all relevant information about the project,
Speaker A
- and what is related to the estimate itself: the reason for the estimate (or the requester's need), the time and resources allocated to the estimate. In outputs, we find three elements: - a set of hypotheses, which also list
Speaker A
the exclusions of the estimate - the precision - and a value. You will note that the precision and the value can be replaced by a range. As for the tools and methods, they deserve another video.
Speaker A
Here are some good practices: - use common sense, yours and that of others - do not neglect your experience and that of others, and the analogy - and above all, do not forget to give the assumptions and the precision of your estimate!
Topics:project estimationproject managementbudget planningschedule estimationresource planningproject lifecycleestimation processproject decision makingproject assumptionsestimate precision
