Budgeting and estimating a job is not the easiest task for anyone, much less someone who is new at it. The internet offers many resources to help a new estimators prepare the required spreadsheet and costs for a job. As an instructional designer there are many resources available to us. In my research I found three sites that really caught my interest.
The first site I reviewed was “How to Manage a Project Budget”- http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-manage-a-project-budget.html . What caught my interest on this site was the explanation of what managing a project means and it provided tips for doing so.
1. Proper resource allocation
a. Coordinate employee responsibilities
b. What supplies will be needed
2. Using budget management software
a. Record every expense
b. “enables budget planning to be merged into other functions of the project”
3. Proof of expenses incurred
a. Keep hard copies of all expenses
4. Reviewing budget periodically
a. Track the work being done and resources being used
5. Good communication of budget risks
a. Keep everyone informed of any budget changes (Rampur, 2011)
The second site I looked at was “Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design”- http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html . I like this site because like my first choice it provides an explanation for understanding the importance of a budget. It also provides a guideline for training cost, and development hours. As a new designer I found this to be very helpful. We don’t often know how much to charge and this resource provided a good reference for this information. This site also provided a ratio for development time when creating a variety of eLearning projects and instructor lead training, explanation of cost for creating multimedia instruction (200-500 man hours for each hour of IMI) (Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design, 1995), interactive courseware development costs for multimedia and computer based training (CBT). I also like the case study the site provides to help you understand how estimating affects a real world situation.
The final site I visited was “Estimating Instructional Development (ID) Time” -http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=279. This reference is a site maintain by Michael Greer. Prior to this course I did not know who Michael Greer was. I have found the information he provides to be very helpful. He shares his insight and what he has learned in the industry. In this particular article he points out 5 topics he feels are important to keep in mind when preparing estimates:
1. Rule of thumb such as 10:1 or 30:1 (development time vs. training time) vary tremendously, depending on who is espousing them.
2. What matters most when estimating the development time is the instructional development project management model you will be using.
3. Non-writing time typically consumes most of the project time!
4. The rules of thumb seldom account for the fact that the deliverables we are developing for a one-hour training session may differ enormously from one course to another.
5. If you carefully examine your organization’s unique ID project management model and then collect your organization’s historical data related to time spend executing various steps of this model, you will be able to create some fairly accurate custom project estimation worksheets. (Greer, 2009)
The bottom line in any estimating project is to do your homework and be vigil in going back and rechecking the numbers as the project progresses. There are many factors that can change and effect a budget so it is important to make a habit of revisiting your budget throughout the life of your project.
References
Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design. (1995, 7 13). Retrieved from Big Dog & Little Dog Performance Juxtaposition: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html
Greer, M. (2009, 9 7). Estimating Instructional Development (ID) Time. Retrieved from Michael Greer's PM Resources: http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=279
Rampur, S. (2011, 6 3). How to manage a project budget. Retrieved from Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-manage-a-project-budget.html
