Engineering cartoons: 'rational' project estimation

The result of the project depends on such indicators as budget, time and quality. It is very important to find a balance between these components for successful project management.

Today we will tell a couple of ways to estimate how much time you need for the project “rationally”.

Planning Poker

It's time to play cards! It only sounds fun, but you still have to think about the deadlines of the project. The essence of the method is that all developers gave their personal estimate of time using the card. If the estimates are different, you need to listen to the justification of the team members (especially with the lowest and highest marks). Then vote again. Continue to "play" until you come to a consensus.

Top-down and bottom-up design

In the case of a downward approach, the time estimate stars at the system level: the time spent on the product as a whole is considered. The bottom-up approach starts at the subsystem level. The system is divided into components and determines the time spent on the development of each of them. These numbers are summarized. If there is a big difference between the two values, you must understand the reason.

Think about previous projects

You may already have a similar project in your portfolio. In this case, you can focus on the actual timing of the previous project.

In any case, it is normal that the initial assessment will be refined. The sooner PM or developers honestly admit that the estimated amount of work has changed, the better it will affect the project.

While assessing the deadlines you should consider risks, resources, the possibility of changes in requirements, individual speed of the team, and communication.

We wish you good luck in planning your projects and are always ready to answer your questions!