Real-Time Estimating

Real-time Estimating is a presentation of the anticipated cost to the team as they are making decisions. Sometimes referred to as Continual estimating this effort of regular, frequent adjustments allows for comparisons overtime to measure progress toward the Budget and delivery of the project.

How does Join accomplish Real-Time Estimating

The first step in Real-Time Estimating is reporting on decisions as they happen. This is accomplished in Join through the use of Items. These ideas can encapsulate the context of the decision along with the potential impact on the project. As the decision status is transitioned from Pending to Accepted the value will be reflected instantaneously in the Running Total. 

How to share the Estimate

The Running Total and Item values can be viewed with the most up-to-date information on the Project Sidebar, Cost Trendline, or in a Custom Report. Because the application is web-based anyone invited to the project can view the impacts as they happen without having to create and distribute a new report. 

How to Incorporate Item Costs to a new baseline

As the project continues to develop the Items that have been Accepted will be implemented into the new Milestone. This implementation is captured with a status update to Incorporated. To do this in Join you can use the Copy From function to roll the previous Running Total into the new Estimate. This process takes the estimate lines from the Items and combines them with the Estimate setting the new baseline as the old Running Total. This flow will allow you to dynamically make decisions and memorialize it making the decisions the baseline in just a couple of clicks. 

Collaboration

Collaboration is essential in Real-Time estimation. Communicate with the team on decisions leveraging the ability to assign Items, add deadlines, make notes, notify one another about the specific Item and memorialize the decisions as you make them. For more details check out the Lifecycle of an Item.