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Subject:Re: Time estimate for writing manual From:TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 7 Jul 2004 16:21:16 -0400
I hope you don't mind me being constructive here.
> While I have seen the application, I have not seen it yet in actual use.
> The client will be coming to my home office to train me for 8 hours and
> after that I will begin work. My problem is this: the client has
> estimated the time for writing to be 120 hours, and I cannot tell at
> this point how many hours will be required.
I have a big problem with a client telling me how long it will take to
write something. The reason why they are *my* client is that they are
looking for *my* expertise to get a job done, and that requires *my*
input and estimates.
> When I was asked to review the proposed Statement of Work, I told the
> client the following in a comment:
> These estimates seem reasonable to me, but it is impossible to be sure
> without my having a good mental picture of the complexity of the
> program. I would tend to go ahead and agree to this if I knew that we
> could amend the estimates if I determine within one week or less that
> they are not workable. I would probably have a good idea, actually,
> immediately after the training.
I agree with John, they will stop paying attention after reading
"These estimates seem reasonable to me". Also, is this the exact
wording you used? It's on the wishy-washy side, which doesn't paint a
clear enough picture of your concerns for them. I would have relayed
the same info as follows, from start to finish:
"I appreciate you taking the time to conduct a preliminary estimation
of work for this job, however I cannot agree to an estimate until I
have had ample time using the product to determine the scope of work
required of me to satisfy your product's documentation needs. I would
prefer to go ahead with the product training as planned, and if the
training is not enough for me to properly estimate the scope of work,
allow myself one working week on the project to really scope out the
work involved in documenting the application. At that time I should
have an accurate estimate of the time required of me for this
project."
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