The role of a project manager is one of many hats- that of a
mediator, motivator, and leader to name a few, all of which help in keeping the
elements of a project together. Of these roles, one of the most important ones
the project manager must wear is that of the budget controller, or as I would
like to refer to this hat as “the banker.” A banker, in general terms, is an
individual who advises their clients with regard to financial matters. They
must account for transactions that occur as well as the accompanying documents
that are to be reviewed, gather information that relates to the client’s
financial needs, and disburse funds (“Duties of a,” 2006). While a project
manager doesn’t directly advise their clients with financial matters, in a
sense they are protecting their clients’ finances by responsibly managing the
overall project costs.
Project Management
Cost Estimating Techniques
This article, written by Bert Markgraf, outlines not only
the importance of cost estimation, but ways, such as empirical methods and
historical costing, that have proven effective in doing so. Not only does the
resource provide examples of when it is best to use one of the two
before-mentioned ways, it also details the importance of cost estimating of
resources and unit costs and how they also relate to the overall project
success.
In addition to this article, the article provides links to
other resources located in the host site, such as one entitled “Methods for
Estimating Project Times and Cost.”
Project Management
Guru: Project Management Estimating Tools and Techniques
This resource details not only several ways of estimating
project costs, such as analogous, parametric, and 3-point estimating, but also provides
guidance as to the type of activities each is best applied. For example, as I read through the
uncertain activities, which the author classifies as the most difficult to
estimate, I am forced to reflect on this week’s discussion about Justin Jordan
and the uncertainties he was faced with while having to determine his project’s
budget. As I reflected on this week’s scenario, and apply the concepts of the
3-point estimating tool which was recommended, I could see how in this case the
estimating technique makes sense because it focuses on risk assumptions,
forcing the project manager to look at several scenarios, from a worse case to
the best case, while creating cost estimates to present to clients.
As a project manager, the hats we will wear will not only vary
from project to project, but the hats we will choose, or be chosen for us, will
vary by those which make up our project team. However, no matter the project,
there will be the time which we will have to put on the banker hat and when we
do, we must be ready to look at all the options before making a financial
decision that in the end will overextend our resources.
Referenes:
Duties of
a banker. (2006,
November 17). Retrieved from
http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/career-tracks/duties-of-a-banker.html
Theresa
ReplyDeleteThis week's assignment was very difficult for me. I'm coming from the education world just like you. Cost estimating and resource allocating are the most stressful components of the project in my opinion. I really enjoyed your 1st resource: http://www.projectmanagementguru.com/estimating.html.The information on this website reiterated what Portny et al., 2008 was saying about using the bottom-up analysis approach to estimating a budget. This approach is more accurate because the people who actually work the project sit down and perform a WBS and assign funds for each task and sub-tasks. I also learned from the 3 Point estimating method. 1. best case/optimistic estimate 2. worse case/ pessimistic estimate 3. which is the between point that most utilize. Great post!!!