Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

The two resources I have selected that would be useful in estimating the costs, effort, and/or activity durations associated with ID projects are listed below.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/5-steps-to-prepare-your-project-budget-HA001141182.aspx

The site gives 5 Steps to Prepare Your Project. The budgeting plan includes setting pay rates, entering per-use costs, entering fixed costs, setting types of tasks, and assigning resources.  I would use the information and enter per use cost and also fixed cost because that always plays a role in preparing the budget.  I also enjoyed the chart description listed below.

If a task's cost is based on:	And you want approximate costs, do this:	Or you want detailed costs, do this:
Hours worked or amount of material used	Specify rates for all work resources and material resources. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.	Specify rates for all resources/materials. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked.
A set fee for a task	Specify fees for tasks. Assign resources to tasks only if you have tracking needs beyond cost tracking.	Specify fees for tasks. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.
A set fee for use of a resource	Specify per-use costs for resources. Assign resources to summary tasks or subtasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.	Specify per-use costs for resources. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.

http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm


Although this site reiterated what most sites state about planning a project, I focused on the information pertaining to communicating your plan to the project team.  The project team is very important because they are assisting as well.  You are not working the project alone, and if you were you would not have a high percentage for success. 




References

Microsoft Project. (2003). 5 steps to prepare your project budget. Retrieved from

       http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/5-steps-to-prepare-your-project-budget-

      HA001141182.aspx


Rosenhead, R. (2010). Project Management. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from

      http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm