A new article -- "Creating a Project Budget: What You Need to Know" -- coming soon...
When starting a project, it is difficult to know how much it will cost. Project managers are held to account for their budget estimates and with so much uncertainty in projects, it can be one of the project managers' greatest challenges.
The ability to create an accurate budget is an essential skill for a project manager. It can be a daunting task for new project managers; however, once you have created your first budget, you will have an approach to use and it will become easier for future projects.
In this article, I look at the techniques that will help you create a first class budget.
Duncan
Creating a Project Budget: What You Need to Know
Here is the link to my new article. Preparing a project budget requires thinking and a tried and tested approach.
Creating a Project Budget: What You Need to Know
Feel free to post your feedback and comments.
Thanks,
Duncan
Creating a Project Budget: What You Need to Know
Feel free to post your feedback and comments.
Thanks,
Duncan
Hi Duncan,
I have just had a read of this article and I feel it covers off budgeting nicely, without going into mass detail! The estimating techniques are the typical ones and it references the pro's and con's of each nicely.
One thing I would add, is where in the project life cycle would you apply each technique, and why? I think this plays a big part in which estimating technique to select.
For instance in the concept phase, a high-level comparative estimate would be appropriate to just get the project business case authorized. This assumes you have historical data and that you aren't looking to risk spending a lot of time on estimating a project which may not get authorized anyhow.
I find with picking an estimating technique, you need to ask:
1) How much historical data is there to compare against?
2) How accurate does the estimate(s) need to be at this juncture?
3) How much time am I willing to spend on estimating (what value I will get back from it for the time spent ascertaining the estimate)?
Just a thought :)
Thanks,
Kit
I have just had a read of this article and I feel it covers off budgeting nicely, without going into mass detail! The estimating techniques are the typical ones and it references the pro's and con's of each nicely.
One thing I would add, is where in the project life cycle would you apply each technique, and why? I think this plays a big part in which estimating technique to select.
For instance in the concept phase, a high-level comparative estimate would be appropriate to just get the project business case authorized. This assumes you have historical data and that you aren't looking to risk spending a lot of time on estimating a project which may not get authorized anyhow.
I find with picking an estimating technique, you need to ask:
1) How much historical data is there to compare against?
2) How accurate does the estimate(s) need to be at this juncture?
3) How much time am I willing to spend on estimating (what value I will get back from it for the time spent ascertaining the estimate)?
Just a thought :)
Thanks,
Kit