Better Estimates

Elizabeth is Co-Principal and CEO of Watermark Learning. She has over 30 years of experience in project management, business analysis and influencing skills. She has presented workshops, seminars and training classes since 1996 to thousands of participants on five continents.

  Business Analysis   Estimating   ProjectsAtWork  

Stakeholders don’t like suprises, especially when it comes to project costs. It’s worth taking the time to carefully estimate the business analysis phase of the project. Here are five tips.

Years ago I worked on a large effort to reengineer a distribution center for a large retailer. We provided an estimate for both the business analysis work and for the entire project, which would involve the organization’s first use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), new business processes, many software changes, and the purchase of new barcode scanners. The business analysis effort took far longer than we anticipated, and at the end of it we refined our estimate for the total project. When we reported the new estimate to the president of the company, he literally pounded his fist on the table and asked, “How did we get to this point? Why didn’t we know sooner? You’ve already spent all this time on the project and what do we have to show for it? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!”

I have always thought of business analysis as the most ambiguous and the most fun of the project phases. However, for many years it was my least favorite phase to estimate. I felt like I was guessing, simply pulling numbers out of the air. No wonder we were so far off.

Estimating the business analysis phase(s) is not easy. It is not hard, but it takes a willingness to think …

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