By paying attention to the time spent in the requirements and specifications phases, and correlating estimates to timesheet data, you can more accurately predict and track overall project length. If more companies did, fewer undoable projects would ever start.

Have you ever worked in a place where 10 percent of 10 projects got done instead of 100 percent of one project? Ultimately, nothing is accomplished and everyone is totally stressed out. Inaccurate estimates cause over-commitment of time, yet not much gets done. Inaccurate estimates also cause bad decisions. “Inaccurate” usually means “too low.” When this happens, the return on investment (ROI) calculation shows the project as ‘worth it’ when it is not.

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