Project Estimation

Delivery: 1-day workshop or onsite coaching

One of the more common problems in the software/systems industry is the inaccurate estimation of product development schedules. In this workshop, project managers, members of the project team and QA learn to use the Wideband Delphi technique to formulate comprehensive effort and size estimates. The Wideband Delphi technique is a team-based process for deriving comprehensive estimates for solution development, deployment and maintenance work.

The estimation process clarifies the scope of the project, creates a comprehensive task list for project completion, derives estimates for each task, clarifies project-level and task-level assumptions and enumerates interruption and overhead activities.

The Delphi technique can be used to estimate any kind of project, e.g., new feature set, legacy modification, maintenance release, solution deployment, or improvement project. The resulting estimates are used to establish project completion dates, set priorities and understand schedule risks when the project deadline is fixed.

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Accurate estimates can result in satisfied customers, higher employee morale, better products and greater profitability.

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Those attending will be given an overview of the various types of estimation techniques, such as mathematical and empirical models and analogy. The Wideband Delphi method, which stresses the importance of project task clarity and team involvement, will be discussed in detail and practiced. A process for negotiation will also be provided, showing the team how to reset deadlines or refine goals during the development process.

This one-day workshop will equip you with the knowledge you need to estimate more accurately. The techniques presented* are applied in the session to your current project work. (See testimonials.)

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THE BENEFITS OF THIS WORKSHOP

This workshop provides organizations with a variety of benefits. By utilizing a team approach that results in more accurate schedules, you will achieve the following:

Produce higher quality products

• accurate estimation makes allowances for enough time for evaluating customer needs, designing, and testing the product

Enhance your company's (or group's) reputation

• setting and negotiating deadlines increases your likelihood of delivering products on time--thus creating a better reputation among customers
• improved predictability and quality will heighten your image in the marketplace

Build higher company morale

• a team-based approach will allow all relevant people to have input into the estimation process, thus creating a more favorable work atmosphere
• the reduction of missed deadlines will prevent problems for management, marketing, sales and development personnel

Build an organization-wide consensus

• management and project team agree on deadlines
• the entire organization functions as a team and becomes more committed to setting and meeting deadlines

WORKSHOP AGENDA

THE PROCESS GROUP

In addition to project estimation workshop, The Process Group offers a broad range of services that are designed to improve your software development process. We are authorized SEI appraisal leaders and provide consulting services that enable you to operate your organization more efficiently and profitably. We also offer public speaking engagements that help management and employees understand the various techniques for-and benefits of-improving the development process.

* This workshop was originally developed for software project teams. It has been used successfully for IT, systems and hardware projects.

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