Chapter 14. Estimate Tasks

Chapter 14. Estimate Tasks

"I don't know. I'm making this up as we go."

” Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) ^[1]

^[1] Raiders of the Lost Ark , Steven Spielberg, Director; George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, Writers, 1981.

This is where the rubber hits the road. All the work you have now done in the RAP session leads to this point ”the estimation of the project (see Figure 14.1).

Figure 14.1. Estimating tasks and developing project quotations

Poor project estimation causes organizations and project sponsors to make decisions based on poor information. The business case is clearly dependent on accurate estimates of both the costs and benefits of the project. Most important, how you approach the process of estimation is the true measure of your professionalism .