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80/20 Principle (aka "Pareto Rule") is a popular distribution assessment method that can be used to estimate duration of activities and tasks. The method is applicable to simple and routine tasks that do not require decomposition into smaller pieces.
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Once the scope of a project is defined and approved, usually any scope-related changes are not desired because otherwise the project may reach its completion with more time and cost consumed.
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Gaining insight into project progress is a critical activity that ensures success of project objectives. Through task burn charts it is possible to understand current state of a project, track the work done and the work remaining, and figure out what performance level the project will possibly reach in observable future.
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Task duration estimation serves as a good practice of scheduling project activities in line with project requirements. This practice embraces a range of methods and techniques (e.g. Wideband Delphi, Backward Estimation, Contingency Planning, others) that estimate time limits and durations of project tasks.
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Task burn-down chart is a favorite way to gain visibility into a project’s performance and status. Such a chart shows relationships between the work done and the work remaining.
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Expert Judgment is a popular project planning technique that can be used to estimate duration of tasks and simple activities.
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Contingency Planning is a general approach to estimating and managing tasks and their durations in an emergency situation. The approach is similar to PERT analysis as it uses certain parameters to make duration estimates.
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Reserve Analysis is a fundamental analytical technique that determines an estimated time reserve for a task and establishes scheduled duration for this task. The technique allows using time reserves to define and protect duration estimates through offsetting unexpected issues that arise.
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Backward Estimation is a general estimation method for defining and calculating time length of tasks through a backward analysis.
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Bottom-up Analysis is a kind of synthetic analysis that aims to improve accuracy of the overall estimation process. This technique uses task decomposition as the basis for making time estimations.
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Historical Data Analysis is a popular method that helps forecast task delivery time through investigating and re-appraising durations of past-period tasks and activities. The method involves a portion of comparison analysis to predict future time trends of current tasks.
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Three-Point is an estimation technique that allows considering three groups (optimistic, pessimistic and probable) of scenarios or assumptions in estimating task duration.
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Task reporting is the final step in creating task analytics. Reporting means reviewing results of the task monitoring activity to develop a task analytics report that summarizes data on tasks and their performance by certain parameters and for a specific period.
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Explore this section to find out how to examine and appraise tasks against the time constraint. Learn to estimate task duration, manage due dates, determine start and finish date, and analyze task performance. Benefit from a number of tips and suggestions about the optimization of task time and duration.
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