Estimating the IT Project Work Effort

Overview/Description
 Have you ever managed an IT project that failed to make a delivery date? Have you ever created a work schedule where the due dates for project completion were way off the mark? One way to solve these common problems is to develop accurate work estimates for your next IT project. In this course, you will learn methods to calculate work estimates, and how to determine which work estimating method you should choose for your IT project. In addition, you will learn how to identify the risks associated with individual tasks, and on an IT project as a whole. You will also learn mitigation strategies to help you reduce the risks identified in your work estimates.

Target Audience
 This course is specifically targeted to experienced IT managers, and managers who support IT project managers. Company executives, project managers, and functional managers with employees assigned to project teams will also benefit from this course.

Expected Duration
5.5

Lesson Objectives:

Work Estimating Methods

  • recognize the benefits of learning about work estimating methods.
  • sequence the steps involved in the work estimation process, given examples.
  • recognize the work estimates required to calculate the mean work effort, using the SWAG estimating technique.
  • use the SWAG estimating technique to calculate the mean work effort of a given IT project assignment.
  • recognize examples of the factors that are required to calculate a production standards estimate.
  • calculate a production standards estimate on the work effort of a given IT project.
  • sequence the steps of the Delphi estimating technique.
  • use the Delphi estimating technique to calculate the work effort estimates of a given IT project task.
  • match the work estimating techniques to examples of the conditions under which they should be used.
  • determine the appropriate work estimating technique to use for a given IT project assignment.

    • Identifying Risk Profiles

  • recognize the importance of identifying risk profiles.
  • distinguish between the formulas required for mean and standard deviation calculations.
  • calculate the mean and standard deviation on a work estimate for a given IT project.
  • sequence examples of the steps for assessing project risks.
  • determine which project task should be a project team's top priority.
  • match the basic risk mitigation strategies to action examples.
  • determine the appropriate approach to implementing risk mitigation strategies for a given IT project.


    • Course Number: PROJ0363