How Not to Estimate a Project

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  CRM   Estimating   Stakeholder Management  

The beginning of a project is a very important time. When the project manager creates the original estimate, there are some traps that snare even the most experienced PMs and lead to some serious problems down the road. The estimate for the project and the project schedule will inform the entire project. Trying to correct a project after this estimation has been finished and accepted by the customer can be like turning a cruise ship with a couple of paddles; the forward momentum cannot be stopped easily.

In this case, knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. The following examples are pulled from a variety of experience and help show the best ways to not estimate a project. The project manager should work hard to not fall into these traps--as sometimes the best intentions turn into the worst project plans.

Example 1: The Overachiever
The over-achieving project planner tries to squeeze as much as possible into as short a time as they can. This leads to time estimations that are too short and scope estimations that are too large. Stakeholders and executives love the overachiever as they promise things that make the customer very happy. Of course, most of the time those promises do not come true and the customers end up very, very unhappy.

In one very good example that I have seen, the over-achieving project planner ends up scheduling all…

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