Coming up with valid estimation of project duration is a challenging task. However, fundamentals guidelines for estimation is, first determine the size, effort, complexity and then determine the project durations. An arbitrary measure of size, effort and complexity are not time-based as per our industry standards.

It is very much easy to estimate the effort (how much work to done) in comparison to the project duration (how much time will be required to complete the project). Specifically, project durations is the product of velocity (precise ability) and effort. As a case in point, it is much easier to tell that how far a destination is instead of telling how much time it will take to reach the destination if I take a particular means like walk, car, bus, train to arrive there.

The main issue is, the project time needed to complete the work is dependent on people doing it while the amount of work to be done is constant. Moreover, as we progress towards the work, the ability to do the work also gets improved in better situations. Similarly, as any project team’s knowledge and conditions improves, their ability to accomplish the work also enhances.

You can not work whole day, but your velocity (ability to do the work) may be increased by fifteen minutes next week than this week. We determine the effort of each backlog object in our product backlog (the objects that we are having difficulty estimating because the task is too long to complete) using estimation by analogy, estimation by consensus, wideband Delphi variations, and other estimation techniques (favoring the easier perspective because precision is more valued than accuracy) for identifying the actuality of uncertainty (that the only way to determine the estimate of the project is to do adequate work to search for what we already do not know and we can’t provide specific commitments at the outset of the project as we simply don’t know enough). Moreover, we estimate an initial team velocity to do the math.

However, analyzing historical data of a project is the lion’s share in providing meticulous information to predict the performance on that project. It is much easier to determine the estimated level of completion by comparing project time line schedule with the available backlog of each milestone. Precisely, the task duration should not be shortened based upon late accomplished tasks. The benefit of comparing scheduled task duration and the backlog is in determining the number of staff required within that project duration.

Project managers have many responsibilities in architectural and engineering firms. Deliberate scheduling is a key not only to the success of the company but to the project, project manager and organization. In the end, it is the Project Manager’s responsibility to assure that not only the requirements of the client are being met by the scheduling exercise, but that the needs of all stakeholders associated with the project management are met. There is no better definition of team effort than providing appropriate project time and effort into a project schedule, which includes not only precise landmark deliverable dates, but a sequence of productivity that reviews all of

the disciplines and people involved.

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