Comments on: Avoiding Padding Problems when Scheduling Projects http://www.pmhut.com/avoiding-padding-problems-when-scheduling-projects Thu, 17 May 2012 04:25:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Laura Bamberg http://www.pmhut.com/avoiding-padding-problems-when-scheduling-projects/comment-page-1#comment-18904 Laura Bamberg Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:48:58 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/?p=4986#comment-18904 John D's comment was good, and so was this post. I think this is a significant problem for project managers across the industry spectrum. Thank you for addressing it! John D’s comment was good, and so was this post. I think this is a significant problem for project managers across the industry spectrum. Thank you for addressing it!

]]> By: JohnD http://www.pmhut.com/avoiding-padding-problems-when-scheduling-projects/comment-page-1#comment-18892 JohnD Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:52:41 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/?p=4986#comment-18892 I would add that the best way to get accurate estimates is to gather data of prior estimates for not only similar jobs, but from the same people. Over time you'll recognize those that tend to be optimistic and those that pad. This is also true at an organizational or regional level where different work cultures display different tendencies (just compare common Europe, US and Asia practices!). At the same time, when adding a buffer at the project level, you need to be careful how you recognize project revenues and/or accrued costs according to what has been delivered. Leaving all the buffer until the end of the project will typically not please the CFO! If the project has distinct delivery milestones - for certain feature sets, say - it's often wise to allocate buffers to each milestone based on the risks associated with reaching that milestone. I would add that the best way to get accurate estimates is to gather data of prior estimates for not only similar jobs, but from the same people. Over time you’ll recognize those that tend to be optimistic and those that pad. This is also true at an organizational or regional level where different work cultures display different tendencies (just compare common Europe, US and Asia practices!).

At the same time, when adding a buffer at the project level, you need to be careful how you recognize project revenues and/or accrued costs according to what has been delivered. Leaving all the buffer until the end of the project will typically not please the CFO! If the project has distinct delivery milestones - for certain feature sets, say - it’s often wise to allocate buffers to each milestone based on the risks associated with reaching that milestone.

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