Are you having trouble making accurate estimates? Or are you unsure how to get the project moving?
The PM’s ability and ability to accurately estimate time, money, effort, and cost is key to the success of a project.
This is no easy task, but it’s crucial to any project.
Both time and money are at stake. This timeline and the amount of resources you have will ensure that you can deliver the final product on time and within your budget.
You don’t want your team to be unprepared for the challenges of building and maintaining a digital project. You could endanger the project and cause trouble for yourself and your team.
Avoid these seven mistakes in project estimation to avoid project disasters.
Mistake #1: You don’t take the time and get to know your team, study the requirements of the project, establish a workflow etc.
Blind project estimates are a sure way to disaster.
You may not have enough knowledge about your team, the project, or your workflow. This can lead to making decisions you aren’t prepared for.
Mistake #2: Don’t ask questions.
It might seem that your clients are experts on the project or that you have all the information necessary to give a solid estimate.
You don’t have to ask questions to gain insight and knowledge that will help you make better decisions when creating a project estimation.
Mistake #3: You just sit behind your desk.
You can’t simply rely on your project documentation and plans to be a great project manager. This will prevent you from being able to understand the project’s details, your team’s needs, and provide important information for your clients and customers.
Don’t just sit behind your desk. You can’t just sit at your desk. Get involved with your team to understand the factors that could impact the project.
Fourth mistake: You don’t keep up with the latest trends and deliverables within your industry.
Keep up-to-date with the latest news, trends, and deliverables within your industry to ask the right queries and make informed projections.
Mistake #5 – You don’t admit to what you don’t know.
You don’t admit to the fact that you don’t know much about certain things. You make assumptions that could have dire consequences for you and your team.
Be honest and truthful about yourself and be open to answering questions from your team. You will be able to communicate with your team members and also learn valuable lessons that could help you in the long-term.
Mistake #6 – You don’t create or adopt a process that meets everyone’s needs.
To maintain order and direction within a team, it is essential to have a process. You won’t be able get things done in a timely manner if you don’t establish or adopt a process that works well for everyone.
As last week’s post suggested, learn the process of your team to understand how they work. You can either learn the existing process (e.g. Waterfall) or create a new process that suits everyone’s needs.
Mistake #7 – You don’t consider history.
“History” simply means information about how long your team spent working on a particular task or deliverable. It helps you make better estimates for future projects with similar requirements.
You’d spend more time and effort learning from the past and creating project estimates based on trial-and-error.
Make smarter decisions.
It can be difficult to estimate project costs. It is important to have realistic and flexible estimates that you can adjust and adapt as the project progresses.
These seven mistakes have been exposed so you know what to avoid and what to do differently. You also know how to approach each project to make sound estimates of time and money.
The easiest way to create a project plan
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