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You need it WHEN?!

Estimating and time-
tracking documentation
projects


             February 8, 2012
               STC Wisconsin


                     Leigh White
            ElementalSource, LLC
Points I wanna make

• Why it’s important to track time
• Why it’s important to estimate
  – with consistent metrics
• How a solid estimate can save
  your



                     at crunch time
Points I’m not gonna make

• Step-by-step how to
• Specific tools
Estimating vs. project plan

• Project plan more detailed
  – Includes specific dates, milestones,
    resources, etc.
• Estimate is a much narrower view of
  the total time effort
  – Regardless of when effort takes place
  – Regardless of specific resources
Who’s tracking?
Independents/contractors

• You’d better be tracking if you want
  to get paid!
• This is more for salaried writers
  – Not to make you more money or justify
    your paycheck
  – To help you get reasonable timelines
  – Maybe to help your company become
    more efficient
Where to start?

• You need to track time to have a
  basis for estimating
  BUT…
• You need to
  estimate so
  you can track
  time
  meaningfully
Let’s start with…

• Time tracking!
  – More concrete
The reality

•   Time
•   Resources (you!)
•   Scope
•   Quality
Where is the wiggle room?

• If it’s got to go out the door by July
  10, maybe you can get another
  writer to help you.
• If there’s no other writers available,
  maybe you can get a few items
  knocked off the plan.
BUT…

• If you can’t prove that you need
  more time, more resources, smaller
  scope…

 …you’ll get squat because



 you have nothing to negotiate with.
So how do you prove it?

• Historical data!
• Time-tracking records from past
  projects that show how much time
  the job took
Uh oh…I don’t track that stuff

• START!
• START NOW!
• Your next couple of projects might
  be a little painful
• But then you’ll have the data you
  need going forward
Basic approach to time-tracking

• Determine work to be done
• Break into separate tasks
• Categorize task
• Create activity categories for
  EVRYTHING you do
• Track time spent in each category
  for each task
Activity categories?

• Keep as detailed an account as
  possible of exactly how you spend
  your time



• Identify black holes
  in your processes &
  in others’ processes
What do I record?
• Everything!
  – time you spend in meetings, phone calls,
    e-mail
  – time you spend locating specs & other info
  – time you spend talking to developers, BAs
  – time you spend planning
  – time you spend writing
  – time the content spends in edits
  – time the content spends with SME
  – time it takes to revise & finalize
  – time it takes to publish
How do I record my time?

• Any way that works for you
  – spreadsheet
  – database
    • Free Access template:
      http://office.microsoft.com/en-
      us/templates/CT010375245.aspx#ai:TC101
      898281|
  – other time-tracking software
    • Toggl: https://www.toggl.com/
    • Harvest: http://www.getharvest.com/
Making sense of it all

• You’ve got all this raw time data,
  now it’s time to use it in an
  estimation
Types of estimating

• Bottom-up
• Top-down
Bottom-up estimating

• Break the project down into
  individual tasks
• Estimate each task
• Add each task estimate together for
  the project total
• “How big a bag do I need to hold all
  these rocks I have?”
Top-down estimating

• Develop a timeline for the project as
  a whole
• Fit the individual tasks into the
  project timeline
• Often less accurate than bottom-up
  – But often favored by PMs unfamiliar
    with documentation projects
• “How can I fit this pile of rocks in
  this size bag?”
Individual task evaluation

• Parametric
• Comparative
• Matrix-based
Parametric estimating

• Estimate the time required for one
  deliverable/feature and multiply it
  by the total deliverables/features
• Tricky, because
  – You have to be sure you’re estimating
    based on a typical deliverable or
    feature or you risk
    under/overestimation
  – You risk not seeing potential red flags
    in items you didn’t specifically look at
Comparative estimating

• Basing estimates on the time it took
  to do similar tasks in other projects
• Excellent if you have the historical
  data to use as a basis
Matrix-based estimating

• Develop standard times for
  – Complex, average, simple tasks
  – New content vs. updated content
  – Other standard variations
• Gives you a more accurate per-task
  estimate than pure parametric
• Very useful if you don’t have
  historical data
• Easy to adopt across team
Evaluation matrix
Dependency calculator

http://www.comtech-serv.com
  /dependency_calculator.htm
Don’t…

• Estimate based on number of pages
So far…
• Why you need to track time
• What kinds of things to track
• Estimation methods
Track what you estimate
• As much as practical, correlate what
  you track with what you estimate
• Two sides of the same coin
  – Estimating: how long is it going to take
    me to do XYZ?
  – Time tracking: how long is it actually
    taking me to do XYZ?
• Maybe not always exact
  correlation – estimate
  can be more general
Example correlation

• Estimation factor:
  – Developer Dave availability: reliable
• Time-tracking:
  – 1 hour spent waiting on response from
    Dave

  – 12 hours spent waiting for response
    from Dave
Important!

• Identify risks and deal-breakers for
  your estimate
• Get all stakeholders’ agreement on
  the estimate up front!

[Example]
OMGweforgottoincludeisittoolatecan
wehavethistoo?
• There will always be last-minute
  changes, additions, oops-we-forgots
• Usually not negotiable (not by you,
  anyway)
• Your estimate is your weapon:
  – “Sure I can add that but as
    you see, it will put us
    behind. What would you
    like to adjust?”
Contact me



               Leigh White
      ElementalSource, LLC

elementalsource@gmail.com
              678.467.7706
Estimating time-tracking
Don’t go chasin’ waterfalls…
• Traditional project estimation
  – task-based
  – attempts to predict a specific number of
    hours for a task
  – estimates don’t change to match reality;
    delays cascade thru plan
• Agile project estimation
  – feature-based
  – more focused on relative size of
    features--“small, medium, large” scale
  – estimates are adjusted for each iteration;
    constant correction
Three-point estimating
• Best case
  – If you develop this, don’t give it to a PM
    because that’s what they’ll try to hold you to!
• Probable case
  – This is what will probably happen so this is
    what is probably useful.
• Worst case
  – The Chicken Little school of estimation.
• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review
  Technique) formula
  – (best+[4x probable]+worst)/6
Critical Path Analysis

• Graphical representation of
  – What needs to be done
  – What can be done at the same time
  – When it needs to be done
Critical path: weeks 1-3
Critical path: weeks 4-8
Critical path: weeks 9-12

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Estimating time-tracking

  • 1. You need it WHEN?! Estimating and time- tracking documentation projects February 8, 2012 STC Wisconsin Leigh White ElementalSource, LLC
  • 2. Points I wanna make • Why it’s important to track time • Why it’s important to estimate – with consistent metrics • How a solid estimate can save your at crunch time
  • 3. Points I’m not gonna make • Step-by-step how to • Specific tools
  • 4. Estimating vs. project plan • Project plan more detailed – Includes specific dates, milestones, resources, etc. • Estimate is a much narrower view of the total time effort – Regardless of when effort takes place – Regardless of specific resources
  • 6. Independents/contractors • You’d better be tracking if you want to get paid! • This is more for salaried writers – Not to make you more money or justify your paycheck – To help you get reasonable timelines – Maybe to help your company become more efficient
  • 7. Where to start? • You need to track time to have a basis for estimating BUT… • You need to estimate so you can track time meaningfully
  • 8. Let’s start with… • Time tracking! – More concrete
  • 9. The reality • Time • Resources (you!) • Scope • Quality
  • 10. Where is the wiggle room? • If it’s got to go out the door by July 10, maybe you can get another writer to help you. • If there’s no other writers available, maybe you can get a few items knocked off the plan.
  • 11. BUT… • If you can’t prove that you need more time, more resources, smaller scope… …you’ll get squat because you have nothing to negotiate with.
  • 12. So how do you prove it? • Historical data! • Time-tracking records from past projects that show how much time the job took
  • 13. Uh oh…I don’t track that stuff • START! • START NOW! • Your next couple of projects might be a little painful • But then you’ll have the data you need going forward
  • 14. Basic approach to time-tracking • Determine work to be done • Break into separate tasks • Categorize task • Create activity categories for EVRYTHING you do • Track time spent in each category for each task
  • 15. Activity categories? • Keep as detailed an account as possible of exactly how you spend your time • Identify black holes in your processes & in others’ processes
  • 16. What do I record? • Everything! – time you spend in meetings, phone calls, e-mail – time you spend locating specs & other info – time you spend talking to developers, BAs – time you spend planning – time you spend writing – time the content spends in edits – time the content spends with SME – time it takes to revise & finalize – time it takes to publish
  • 17. How do I record my time? • Any way that works for you – spreadsheet – database • Free Access template: http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/templates/CT010375245.aspx#ai:TC101 898281| – other time-tracking software • Toggl: https://www.toggl.com/ • Harvest: http://www.getharvest.com/
  • 18. Making sense of it all • You’ve got all this raw time data, now it’s time to use it in an estimation
  • 19. Types of estimating • Bottom-up • Top-down
  • 20. Bottom-up estimating • Break the project down into individual tasks • Estimate each task • Add each task estimate together for the project total • “How big a bag do I need to hold all these rocks I have?”
  • 21. Top-down estimating • Develop a timeline for the project as a whole • Fit the individual tasks into the project timeline • Often less accurate than bottom-up – But often favored by PMs unfamiliar with documentation projects • “How can I fit this pile of rocks in this size bag?”
  • 22. Individual task evaluation • Parametric • Comparative • Matrix-based
  • 23. Parametric estimating • Estimate the time required for one deliverable/feature and multiply it by the total deliverables/features • Tricky, because – You have to be sure you’re estimating based on a typical deliverable or feature or you risk under/overestimation – You risk not seeing potential red flags in items you didn’t specifically look at
  • 24. Comparative estimating • Basing estimates on the time it took to do similar tasks in other projects • Excellent if you have the historical data to use as a basis
  • 25. Matrix-based estimating • Develop standard times for – Complex, average, simple tasks – New content vs. updated content – Other standard variations • Gives you a more accurate per-task estimate than pure parametric • Very useful if you don’t have historical data • Easy to adopt across team
  • 28. Don’t… • Estimate based on number of pages
  • 29. So far… • Why you need to track time • What kinds of things to track • Estimation methods
  • 30. Track what you estimate • As much as practical, correlate what you track with what you estimate • Two sides of the same coin – Estimating: how long is it going to take me to do XYZ? – Time tracking: how long is it actually taking me to do XYZ? • Maybe not always exact correlation – estimate can be more general
  • 31. Example correlation • Estimation factor: – Developer Dave availability: reliable • Time-tracking: – 1 hour spent waiting on response from Dave – 12 hours spent waiting for response from Dave
  • 32. Important! • Identify risks and deal-breakers for your estimate • Get all stakeholders’ agreement on the estimate up front! [Example]
  • 33. OMGweforgottoincludeisittoolatecan wehavethistoo? • There will always be last-minute changes, additions, oops-we-forgots • Usually not negotiable (not by you, anyway) • Your estimate is your weapon: – “Sure I can add that but as you see, it will put us behind. What would you like to adjust?”
  • 34. Contact me Leigh White ElementalSource, LLC elementalsource@gmail.com 678.467.7706
  • 36. Don’t go chasin’ waterfalls… • Traditional project estimation – task-based – attempts to predict a specific number of hours for a task – estimates don’t change to match reality; delays cascade thru plan • Agile project estimation – feature-based – more focused on relative size of features--“small, medium, large” scale – estimates are adjusted for each iteration; constant correction
  • 37. Three-point estimating • Best case – If you develop this, don’t give it to a PM because that’s what they’ll try to hold you to! • Probable case – This is what will probably happen so this is what is probably useful. • Worst case – The Chicken Little school of estimation. • PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) formula – (best+[4x probable]+worst)/6
  • 38. Critical Path Analysis • Graphical representation of – What needs to be done – What can be done at the same time – When it needs to be done