Project Estimation Strategies

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Course Description

Project Estimation Strategies applies key TOC ideas to the challenge of estimating project uncertainty. It explores best practices for scheduling innovative, "first-time" projects, and shows you how to improve overall predictability and control. 

When we work on projects that deal with new processes or new technologies, we often find ourselves moving through territory where no one has gone before. Still, our customers, our partners, and our managers want us to provide reliable delivery dates that we can commit to. This is the basic challenge that project teams in innovative companies must deal with today.

Objectives

Originally developed for Sun Microsystems, Project Estimation Strategies addresses the special issues faced by those who manage projects that require specialized resources and involve a high degree of novelty. Project Estimation Strategies uses voicestream and onscreen animation to introduce you to new strategies for estimating and scheduling your projects-strategies that work! This course presents key ideas and best practices from the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and shows you how to apply them to the challenges of scheduling "first-time" projects.

Duration

Estimated duration:3-4 hours

Main Topics

• How to Tackle the Estimation of Uncertainty
• Best Practices for Scheduling Innovative, "First-time" Projects
• How to Improve Overall Timing, Predictability and Control

You Will Learn How To

• Assess the critical impact of Resource Constraints
• Identify your project's Critical Chain of activities
• Add safety by using Project Padding instead of task padding
• Understand how to deploy Project Buffers, Feeding Buffers, and Resource Buffers
• Size your buffers appropriately based on risk levels in the Four Basic Task Types
• Use Structured Optimization techniques to shorten the project's Critical Chain
• Monitor Buffer Consumption to keep your projects on track
• And much, much more!

Target Audience

Project Estimation Strategies has been designed for project managers, program managers and team leaders who are responsible for developing schedules and managing projects. The class assumes basic familiarity with traditional project management terms and concepts (Gantt charts, dependencies, resource leveling, slack, etc.). Project Estimation Strategies briefly reviews key ideas from the Critical Path Method (CPM), and then quickly takes you beyond them. For those who are not familiar with the terms and concepts of project scheduling, we recommend that you take our companion online class, Project Scheduling Fundamentals, or an equivalent course, to get the greatest value from Project Estimation Strategies.

Registration Information

Individual user registrations for Project Estimation Strategies are $225 for a 90-day license key. Substantial discounts are available for volume purchases and site licenses. To register, or for more information, click here or call us at 613-592-5050 or 1-877-SOMOS-PM.