Advantages of Analogy Estimation

What is Project Estimation?

More than just determining the cost of a project, Project Estimation is a systematic process to predict and plan for the time, effort, and resources required to successfully deliver a project. This approach helps in strategic decision-making and enables teams to identify and resolve potential risks, uncertainties, and project complexities. So, Project Estimation allows us to predict project elements such as project duration, team size, and necessary tools to develop well-informed plans and make adjustments based on evolving requirements....

What is Estimation by Analogy?

Estimation by Analogy is a method that performs the comparison or analogy between the current or new tasks and similar tasks or activities from past projects. Analogous estimation draws the parallels between the cost figures and predictions of ongoing or upcoming tasks. It simply means that the parameters of current or upcoming tasks are compared with those of previous or completed tasks. Hence, analyzing historical data and project parameters becomes truly helpful for project professionals to estimate the efforts required for the current project....

Advantages of Analogy Estimation

More accurate due to historical information: Estimation by Analogy relies on historical information and past experiences, leading to more accurate predictions. Here we compare the current tasks with the issues that teams have already faced the challenges in the past. As a result, the reliability and accuracy are increased in Estimation by Analogy. Time-Saving in Project Planning: The utilization of analogies saves valuable time during the project planning phase. Instead of creating estimates from scratch, project teams can use the existing information about previous efforts and outcomes. This efficient approach reduces the time required for estimation and makes the team ready for the critical aspects of project planning and execution. Enhances Team Coordination: The process of comparing current tasks with historical data fosters a common understanding among team members. This shared knowledge helps align team members on expectations and potential challenges. As a result, Estimation by Analogy contributes to improved team coordination and collaboration, reducing the likelihood of conflicts and misunderstandings....

Disadvantages of Analogy Estimation

Bias in the Estimation Process: Analogous Estimation is tolerant to bias as it heavily relies on historical data and past experiences. If previous efforts were inaccurately estimated or if there were unforeseen challenges, the estimation process may inherit those biases. This could lead to an overemphasis on historical factors, resulting in biased project effort calculations. Limited Applicability in Unique Projects: Analogous Estimation may be less applicable in projects with unique or uncommon requirements. In cases where the project involves tasks that significantly differ from previous projects, historical data may not accurately reflect the efforts required. Potential Ignorance of Subject Expertise: In certain situations, team pressure or political considerations may override project-specific calculations or insights from subject matter experts. The dependence on historical data may lead to overlooking the expertise of individuals who possess valuable insights into the unique aspects of the project. This can fail to account for critical project efforts....

What is Estimation by Relative Sizing?

Estimation by Relative Sizing considers the complexity of other tasks is considered while estimating the project. It involves a comparison of the parameters from the current tasks with similar types of tasks to identify and calculate the project efforts. This estimation method does not make it compulsory to find the exact numerical estimate. It estimates the project efforts just by comparing them with tasks of similar categories....

Advantages of Relative-size Estimation

Easy Adaptability: The historical data is not always available or accessible. But the comparison of tasks with similar activities is easy. We do not need to recalibrate the estimation metrics to adapt to the requirements. Thus, the Estimation by Relative Sizing is easy to use. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: The stakeholders or customers become more satisfied by getting comparisons between similar tasks to estimate the project resources. Thus, it is easy to convince them of parameters such as project deadlines or delivery. IT Reduces Bias: The project experts do not need to rely only on the first piece of information to make a decision. Also, absolute values do not influence the teams easily. This reduces the bias in the project estimation and increases the accuracy....

Disadvantages of Relative-size Estimation

Unnecessary Conflicts due to Relative Sizing: The understanding of like or similar tasks may vary for each team member. This leads to conflicts in terms of effort identification. Also, the complexity may increase due to different subjective understandings. Dependency on Skilled Team: The scale for Relative Sizing differs from project to project. Due to this, Relative Sizing is not very relevant if the team is not skilled enough. The unskilled team members face difficulty in accurate planning which causes the project estimate to become inaccurate. Less Precise for Smaller Projects: It is easy to compare the ongoing tasks with the projects on a large scale. However, if the project has small tasks, the relative sizing becomes inaccurate even if they are well-defined. This makes Estimation by relative sizing less precise for the smaller project....

Conclusion: Estimation by Analogy and Relative Sizing

In conclusion, estimating a Project is all about knowing the resources and crucial efforts done to complete the tasks. Project Estimation is an important part of Project Management that helps us to find the cost, time, and effort per unit task. The techniques of Estimation by Analogy and Relative Sizing help the project managers easily find out when the projects will be delivered and with how many resources. Now, you are clear with the Project Estimation Techniques. You can easily implement these to make your project successful....

FAQs: Estimation by Analogy and Relative Sizing

1. Can Relative Sizing and Analogous Estimation be applied in Non-Agile Projects?...