Microsoft Project 2010: The Missing Manual

Chapter 5. Estimating Task Work and Duration

Once you’ve identified the tasks that comprise a project, the next step is figuring out how many hours or days of work those tasks entail—and the time to allow for that work. For example, you need to know how long it takes to repair and paint the front of a ’67 Mustang Fastback to figure out whether you can hide the evidence before your parents get home from vacation.

You’ll never predict project duration with total accuracy. However, estimating work time as closely as you can is the goal, because both high and low estimates can cause problems. Overestimate how long your project will take, and the project might get squelched before it begins. Underestimate, and you might run into disappointment, extensions, and financial consequences.

In this chapter, you’ll learn different ways to estimate time and duration, how to improve estimates, and how to avoid estimation land mines. You’ll also learn how to create spreadsheets for collecting estimated numbers from team members, and then import the numbers into Microsoft Project.

One challenge early in project planning is trying to define tasks and build a schedule when you don’t have all the information you need. You may not know when some tasks must occur or how long other tasks may take. In Project 2010, you can fill in the information you do know and leave the rest blank without hearing a peep from the program. In fact, you can type notes in date or duration fields to jog your memory when you ...