Hi,I would like to ask everybody what do I need to become a PM? I recently started as a project manager in a development banking area and I think I had some knowldge about it but now I know I don´t have a clue.
Where do I start? What should I do? I feel lost. Saving Changes...
Lawrence TaxsonSenior Program Executive| USGVienna, Va, United States
Chevelle,
If you are still looking for an answer to your questions, I have a few.
First, in regards to estimating for a project, we always start with lessons learned and input from the people who will be doing the work. After reviewing that information, we look at the amount of resources we have and determine an appropriate timeline for the project. Most of the estimating is done with PERT analysis, with the optimistic and pessimistic values coming from the lessons learned.
To be honest though, I try not to conduct a detailed schedule / budget analysis on a large amount of work up front. If the project allows, I will break the work into smaller manageable chunks. I then do a detailed cost analysis for the first chunk and then a high-level estimate on the rest of the chunks. With the high-level estimate, since I do not know the actual details of these chunks, I might use PERT analysis with some additional padding for the values. This cycle repeats until no chunks are left. Because change is inevitable on all projects, you can’t possibly estimate an entire project upfront, unless management will give you a buffer to be a certain % over or under on your estimate when the project completes.
