Competence-based estimation of activity duration in IT projects

Abstract

The aim of project management is to successfully complete the project on schedule and within budget. Estimation of project activity duration is a key feature of scheduling. The individual activities making up the schedule and the estimation of their duration are crucial for defining the project timetable. The resulting scheduling problem falls into the class of Multi-Skill Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problems. In this paper we propose a novel methodology for Activity Duration Estimation in IT projects. The methodology uses the Hierarchical Skill Model and takes into account the experience of project team members, described by required and possessed skills. Skills are modeled as a weighted digraph, and learning curves are used to express individual learning rates. An illustrative example using a software project is provided. Incorporating skill-based modeling into project scheduling results in more precise estimation of actual and future performance.