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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 1 00:00:01,250 --> 00:00:02,320 Let's take a closer look 2 2 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:04,963 at how activity breakdown works in practice. 3 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,000 Here's an implementation plan 4 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:09,640 broken into a set of activities 5 5 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:10,740 that will get it done. 6 6 00:00:12,210 --> 00:00:15,220 The first principle is that the person that will create 7 7 00:00:15,220 --> 00:00:17,630 the deliverable when the project is underway 8 8 00:00:17,630 --> 00:00:20,800 must be the same person that estimates it in planning 9 9 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,740 to ensure accuracy in planning 10 10 00:00:22,740 --> 00:00:24,753 and commitment during execution. 11 11 00:00:26,180 --> 00:00:28,220 This principle falls down all the time 12 12 00:00:28,220 --> 00:00:30,143 with predictable negative results. 13 13 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:32,870 If the person estimating a deliverable 14 14 00:00:32,870 --> 00:00:35,290 isn't going to be the person doing it later, 15 15 00:00:35,290 --> 00:00:37,170 no matter how professional they are, 16 16 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:38,310 they just aren't going to put 17 17 00:00:38,310 --> 00:00:40,653 the same effort into estimation. 18 18 00:00:41,570 --> 00:00:43,160 And if the person who produces a deliverable 19 19 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,030 during execution didn't develop the estimate, 20 20 00:00:46,030 --> 00:00:47,230 they just aren't going to feel 21 21 00:00:47,230 --> 00:00:49,403 the same responsibility to meet it. 22 22 00:00:51,380 --> 00:00:54,310 Let's say you have ensured that. 23 23 00:00:54,310 --> 00:00:57,780 Then, before breaking down the deliverable, 24 24 00:00:57,780 --> 00:00:59,560 the owner needs to first decide 25 25 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,030 the composition of their team and level of expertise, 26 26 00:01:03,030 --> 00:01:05,240 since the duration cannot be factored linearly 27 27 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,190 by changing the number of people later. 28 28 00:01:08,060 --> 00:01:09,710 Here, the deliverable owner decided 29 29 00:01:09,710 --> 00:01:12,200 they would estimate based on having a senior resource, 30 30 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,123 a junior resource, and a QA person in support. 31 31 00:01:16,810 --> 00:01:21,510 Then simply take the time to think the deliverable through 32 32 00:01:21,510 --> 00:01:24,110 and break down the activities required to produce it. 33 33 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,700 It's a standard to always estimate the time in hours, 34 34 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:32,073 not days, since sometimes there will be one hour activities. 35 35 00:01:33,430 --> 00:01:36,573 And include any required material and services. 36 36 00:01:37,970 --> 00:01:39,690 When you do the breakdown, 37 37 00:01:39,690 --> 00:01:42,033 look for some common estimating patterns. 38 38 00:01:43,310 --> 00:01:47,300 For example, often you don't just start moving at full speed 39 39 00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:51,320 but rather, there is some kind of preparation work upfront, 40 40 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,173 to kind of ease into the effort. 41 41 00:01:55,020 --> 00:01:57,490 And even within the deliverable, 42 42 00:01:57,490 --> 00:02:00,210 at the activity level managed by the owner, 43 43 00:02:00,210 --> 00:02:02,390 there's often more than one version, 44 44 00:02:02,390 --> 00:02:05,543 since almost nothing can be done properly in one pass. 45 45 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,840 And third, also within the deliverable, 46 46 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,420 at the activity level, 47 47 00:02:11,420 --> 00:02:14,600 look for the opportunity to apply some quality assurance 48 48 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,770 by defining at least one internal peer review 49 49 00:02:17,770 --> 00:02:20,693 and some kind of final review before it's handed over. 50 50 00:02:22,380 --> 00:02:25,800 Not all deliverables have these patterns but many do. 51 51 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,183 It's well worth looking to see if they apply. 52 52 00:02:30,460 --> 00:02:33,380 Here's a story about the importance of the deliverable owner 53 53 00:02:33,380 --> 00:02:36,293 during execution being the person to provide the estimate. 54 54 00:02:37,670 --> 00:02:39,860 The first time I ever defined a deliverable, 55 55 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:42,290 as a junior member of a project team, 56 56 00:02:42,290 --> 00:02:44,007 I remember my boss said to me, 57 57 00:02:44,007 --> 00:02:45,627 "That's great, now I need you 58 58 00:02:45,627 --> 00:02:47,910 to provide an estimate for it." 59 59 00:02:47,910 --> 00:02:50,083 My reaction was shock and dismay. 60 60 00:02:50,930 --> 00:02:53,800 I told him I had no experience with estimating 61 61 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,370 and he should probably find someone else to do it, 62 62 00:02:56,370 --> 00:02:58,170 especially since it was going into a bid 63 63 00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:00,943 for a fixed price contract where we could lose money. 64 64 00:03:02,050 --> 00:03:04,370 And I'll never forget what he said. 65 65 00:03:04,370 --> 00:03:08,337 He said, "I hear you, but when I look around this building 66 66 00:03:08,337 --> 00:03:12,727 for the best person to estimate your work, 67 67 00:03:12,727 --> 00:03:14,897 the best person I see is you." 68 68 00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:20,810 And then I understood, it didn't matter how junior I was, 69 69 00:03:20,810 --> 00:03:22,520 it was my work. 70 70 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,030 No one else really understood it 71 71 00:03:25,030 --> 00:03:26,270 and no one else was going to come up 72 72 00:03:26,270 --> 00:03:28,640 with an estimate anywhere close. 73 73 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:30,680 So my boss gave me some mentoring, 74 74 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,870 basically the information on this page, 75 75 00:03:32,870 --> 00:03:33,880 and then I broke down the work 76 76 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,030 into the activities required to get there, 77 77 00:03:36,030 --> 00:03:39,160 estimated them individually, rolled them up, 78 78 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,400 and at the end of the exercise had an estimate 79 79 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,373 that ended up being fairly close. 80 80 00:03:45,020 --> 00:03:47,400 So, if your team members express 81 81 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,423 discomfort with estimating, tell them the same thing. 82 82 00:03:51,310 --> 00:03:54,380 They are the best people to provide the estimate 83 83 00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:55,423 for their own work. 84 84 00:03:56,550 --> 00:03:59,640 Give them the same mentoring as described in this page 85 85 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,970 and tell them they can be wrong later 86 86 00:04:02,970 --> 00:04:06,610 as long as they have something behind their estimate 87 87 00:04:06,610 --> 00:04:08,410 called a Basis of Estimate or BOE. 88 88 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,640 And when you don't have hard historical data, 89 89 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,440 an activity breakdown is the best BOE 90 90 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:16,693 we know how to provide. 91 91 00:04:19,610 --> 00:04:21,990 There is a second step in the activity breakdown 92 92 00:04:21,990 --> 00:04:24,610 that significantly helps with accuracy, 93 93 00:04:24,610 --> 00:04:26,830 you fine-tune the estimate, 94 94 00:04:26,830 --> 00:04:29,850 since the first estimate is usually too large 95 95 00:04:29,850 --> 00:04:32,490 because you typically estimated each activity a little high 96 96 00:04:32,490 --> 00:04:34,190 in case you are missing something. 97 97 00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:38,330 So you take a look at the total and do a gut check 98 98 00:04:38,330 --> 00:04:40,630 based on past experience, 99 99 00:04:40,630 --> 00:04:44,480 if it seems too large, you cut back the estimate a bit, 100 100 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,010 or less often if it seems too small, 101 101 00:04:47,010 --> 00:04:49,480 you increase it a bit or look for activities 102 102 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:50,580 you might have missed. 103 103 00:04:51,730 --> 00:04:53,950 Here, you can see that the deliverable owner reduced 104 104 00:04:53,950 --> 00:04:57,320 some of the activities between four and 20 hours. 105 105 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,690 For a total reduction of 46 hours for the senior resource, 106 106 00:05:00,690 --> 00:05:02,923 and 24 hours for the junior resource. 107 107 00:05:04,370 --> 00:05:05,940 Then do another gut check, 108 108 00:05:05,940 --> 00:05:08,193 and if necessary, fine-tune it again. 109 109 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:12,380 This critically important fine-tuning step 110 110 00:05:12,380 --> 00:05:14,283 about doubles the accuracy. 111 111 00:05:15,660 --> 00:05:19,430 That is if it was 20% off after the first estimate, 112 112 00:05:19,430 --> 00:05:21,830 it is probably only about 10% off 113 113 00:05:21,830 --> 00:05:23,913 after this fine-tuning adjustment. 114 114 00:05:25,930 --> 00:05:28,720 Now, you've thought through the activities, 115 115 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,890 estimated them individually, rolled them up, 116 116 00:05:31,890 --> 00:05:34,000 and fine-tuned as needed, 117 117 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,543 you have a great basis of estimate for the deliverable. 10294