Estimation (project management)

For estimation in general, see Estimation.

Estimation within project management (e.g., for engineering or software development), are the basis of sound project planning. Many processes have been developed to aid project managers in making accurate estimates.

Processes (engineering)

• Analogy based estimation
• Compartmentalization (i.e., breakdown of tasks)
• Cost estimate
• Delphi method
• Documenting estimation results
• Educated assumptions
• Estimating each task
• Examining historical data
• Identifying dependencies
• Parametric estimating
• Risk assessment
• Structured planning

Processes (software development)

Popular estimation processes for software projects include:

• Cocomo
• Cosysmo
• Event chain methodology
• Function points
• Planning poker
• Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• Proxy-based estimating (PROBE) (from the Personal Software Process)
• The Planning Game (from Extreme Programming)
• Weighted Micro Function Points (WMFP)
• Wideband Delphi

See also

• Estimation in software engineering
• Software development effort estimation
• Comparison of development estimation software
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Guesstimate
• Ballpark estimate
• Construction Estimating Software

External links

• Project Estimation Methods
• Estimation chapter from "Applied Software Project Management" (PDF)
• The Dynamics of Software Projects Estimation
• Estimations in project management
• Three types of B2C estimates