Uncertainty is inevitable
Forecasting exactly how long everything in your project work breakdown structure will take is impossible. The uncertainty in project work is constant, and fixed schedule dates and finite durations are a thing of the past.
Teams naturally underestimate
People are inherently optimistic and often provide low fixed estimates because they don’t want to let managers down. The psychology behind forecasting with best case and worst case scenarios, or ranged estimates, is empowering for project teams.
Portfolio Manager helps people get better at estimating than ever before, as logged progress can be compared to the initial forecast of effort. Capture at the portfolio level all the way down to the team member and task detail.
Best case – worst case ranges
(for example, 3 – 5 days) account for uncertainty in your plan from the start and are visible in every schedule bar. The wider the white bar, the more uncertainty to wrangle.Using ranged estimates allows LiquidPlanner’s engine to expose uncertainty in your plans before it becomes a problem.
Statistically correct schedules
Since estimates are entered as a range, finish dates are also predicted as a range: Expected Finish (your best case finish) to Latest Finish (your worst case finish).Ranged estimates are set on that roll up to the task. Task estimates roll up to the project and package to build your schedule. It’s a statistically correct roll up that uses probability to determine the likelihood of one outcome over another by factoring in everything else that’s going on in your portfolio.
