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RE: Estimating a Project

Subject: RE: Estimating a Project
From: "Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 18:38:29 -0800


Too true, Sharon!

I had a client who kindly helped me learn this lesson early! ;-)
My skills as project manager and contract writer are not always
what they should be, even tho I can pretty much guess right-on
about how long it'll take me to write the stuff in the first
place. I very quickly let that client send me *way* too many
changes. The project grew from "edit and reformat 100 pages to
write another 50 pages of missing information, too" and he still
wasn't satisfied! I'll never get any repeat business from him; it
was a learning experience.

I naively expected the client to know how to do this -- document
a software app -- but he didn't have a clue. I like to think I'm
better at specifying the client's responsibilities and how much
change can cost, but I know I'm not good enough.

It isn't how long it takes you to write stuff you have to estimate.
You also have to estimate how flakey the client is WRT specifying
needs and wants (I swear there's no missing info, it's all there!
just an edit..." HA!) on that side and how well/poorly you communicate
your needs/wants (please review...) and just what exactly "out of scope"
means.

-Sue Gallagher


At 06:12 PM 3/31/2003 -0800, Sharon Burton-Hardin wrote:

Estimating projects is in and of itself an art. Some people can and some
cannot.

...

I had the icky conversation today about "out of scope changes" and explained
how that works. It is a different, much higher, hourly than I would normally
charge, simply to stop these sorts of changes at this part of the project.
They fainted. I agreed this was costly. It is unfortunate that they really
want these changes but they are going to cost almost 10% of the total
project. They agreed, because they want those changes. I suggested that in
the future, they get the entire sign off team involved at the beginning of
the review process. They seemed puzzled and a little defensive.

They are VERY unhappy at the time they will take, because we are already
over schedule, in large part because of those 4 rounds of edits we were
never scheduled for. But there they are. It all takes time. And time costs
money.


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Follow-Ups:

References:
Re: Estimating a Project: From: Andrew Plato
RE: Estimating a Project: From: Sharon Burton-Hardin

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