41 Estimating Resources and Costs
Ellen Mathein
Estimating Resources
Now that the task list is complete, it’s time to decide what resources will be used to accomplish the tasks. In project management, “resources” means people, materials, and money. For now, let’s just focus on people and materials – we’ll look at money in a moment.
A common method of resource listing is to list the tasks, estimated time, and resources required, all in the same table. We have started an example here.
| Task | Calculated Time | People Required | Materials Required |
| 1. Get paint samples | 1 hour | Me, Joe | Car |
| 2. Choose a paint color | 2 hours | Me, Joe | Paint Samples |
| 3. Remove all furniture | 1 hour | ||
| 4. Take off trim | ½ hour | ||
| 5. Paint trim | 1 hour | ||
| 6. Apply first coat | 2 hours | ||
| 7. Apply second coat | 2 hours | ||
| 8. Put trim back in | ½ hour | ||
| 9. Put all furniture back in | 1 hour |
How detailed you get with your resource list is up to you. For people resources, make sure you include all people who are going to be spending their time on the project, even yourself.
Estimating Costs
Our next step is to add cost information to our table. Make sure to include salary information for everyone, even project team members, and to include line item cost information for each material resource. If you are doing a home project (as we are here), salary information will not be necessary.
| Task | Calculated Time | People Required | Estimated Cost for People | Materials Required | Estimated Cost for Resources |
| 1. Get paint samples | 1 hour | Sue, Joe | $0 | Car | $10 (gas) |
| 2. Choose a paint color | 2 hours | Sue, Joe | $0 | Paint Samples | $0 |
| 3. Remove all furniture | 1 hour | ||||
| 4. Take off trim | ½ hour | ||||
| 5. Paint trim | 1 hour | ||||
| 6. Apply first coat | 2 hours | ||||
| 7. Apply second coat | 2 hours | ||||
| 8. Put trim back in | ½ hour | ||||
| 9. Put all furniture back in | 1 hour |
