Estimates can be likened to promises. They are promises that you keep. How good you are at making estimates will determine your reputation. There are many methods and methods to make estimates. Communication is still key. Here is an example of communication between project managers and their teams.
Next, you’ll find 7 concepts that support the creation of estimates. Example of Producing estimates
Corwin is a project manager for a small software development company. He receives one of the many requests to evaluate implementation of a new feature. He quickly scans the document. Everything appears to be quite straightforward. Peter, his team leader, is pinging him to confirm that he can handle this one. They agree that John is the best person to handle it. It will be a great first task for him.
Corwin sends John an email with the specifications. Corwin then contacts John via instant messenger.
Corwin: Hi, John. I just sent you a specification. It describes a new feature that we need to implement. Peter asked me to assign the task. As usual, please review the document, break down the work, and give estimates. John: Hi Corwin. I received the email. It’s a five-page document. It will take some time… approximately 4 hours.Corwin : OK, take your own time. Before you send it to me, please check the estimates with Peter. We will then discuss them together. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks!
Corwin receives the estimates later in the day. He takes it and walks back towards John. It is easier to discuss estimates face-to-face. When you discuss efforts, email and text messages can feel a little aggressive.
A simple form for work decomposition and estimates.Corwin : Hello John. How is it going? John: What do you think of the new feature? It’s very simple, but there are some aspects that aren’t quite clear. It will be a hit with users.Corwin: That’s great. Please explain your estimates. What is the “Update old controllers?”? It sounds like a lot of work…John says yes. There are many places in old code that needs to be changed. Plus, I was able to hear about the last time you touched it. It was a mess. It was a mess. This information is urgently needed in the app. We expect problems here. Let’s keep this that way. John: Let’s take it as a chance. Let’s be safe.Corwin. John: The spec is very slim. There are too many cases. I don’t think we will find them all during testing… We will be pushing back the task back and forth.Corwin. John: It will take seven days maximum.Corwin. It will save us time and nerves. It will be mine. It is still a lot of work. It needs to be further decomposed. We need to keep track of your progress. John: Okay, will do. The full specification is required. The next one is even more frightening. We must update the framework. It has not been tried yet. It is a third-party thing. It is always buggy.Corwin, yes. Let’s consider it a risk. Let’s say everything goes smoothly. John: It will take one day, I think.Corwin : And what if everything goes wrong?John : I think it will take nine days.Corwin : I think we can implement our own framework in one day.Corwin : Let’s say that we have one day to implement, one to debug, and one day to assess the risk. It could have an impact of up to two weeks. John: I agree. Corwin: Thank you. John: Please update the estimates and send the final version to me.