Objectives

To enable students to recognize that poor estimates are a leading source of project failure - if you promise to do a ten month job in six months, cost overruns and schedule slippages are hardwired into the project; to provide students with insights into best practices in the realm of estimating schedules, budgets, and human/material resource requirements.

Instruction

Method: Lecture, case studies, class exercises, homework assignments.

Material: Course workbook. Case studies.

PMBOK Knowledge Areas

• Integration Management
• Scope Management
• Time Management
• Cost Management

Topics Covered

• How to develop reliable and valid metrics
• The politics of estimating
• Why poor estimates are the rule
• Using the Beta distribution to establish more accurate estimates
• Using the normal and triangular distributions
• Moving from conceptual to preliminary to definitive estimates
• Subjective estimates with techniques such as Delphi forecasting and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP)
• Employing top-down estimation procedures, including parametric estimating
• Employing bottom-up estimation procedures
• Developing skills in a variety of estimation techniques, including extrapolation, estimating by analogy, and gathering estimation data through surveys
• Regression analysis as a key technique to project trends
• Using Monte Carlo simulation to "model" your estimates
• Establishing risk assessment groups (RAGs) to undertake independent verification and validation of estimates
• How to develop a historical database to improve estimating capabilities

Course Length

This course comes in varying lengths depending upon the needs of your organization. Project Management Professionals (PMPs) are eligible to earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) for taking this course.

Arrange a Course

Contact UMT Corporate Training at (703) 516-0035 or training@umtweb.edu to schedule a course.