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I think the parametric is the best because it explain itself to any one who pick up a the document without help from anyone.

in my opinion, the best way to estimate costs is by integrating the three approaches. By doing so, you get expert opinion and at the same time are able to make a comparison with people that are actually doing the implementation of activities.

The approach to use may be sometimes be context specific, but I believe the parametric is the best as it rules out all inadequacy.

I Believe that you should combine the three approaches, you will be serve best.

I agree with you that parametric is the best, but as the prices frequently fluctuates, I think it is critical to first do up-to-date market-based research about the prices to come up with more accurate budget.

On the hand, as there are some points where parametric can't be practical, for instance, if there is a project of building poultry houses for number of local farmers at their residents, cost will vary according to the nature of their grounds.

I'd like to recap that each one of the three can be proper way according to the situation.

Paramentric approach is good for a project because it gives accurate information of what will happen.

Parametric is usually easier as a consulting as we usually quote by man hours, or service units which are more transparent and easier to calculate

The three approaches should be combined in the costs estimates of a project. I particularly have preference for the bottom-up approach. This approach has the advantage of producing more realistic estimates simply because of the involvement of the individuals in the chain of activities.

I prefer using all approaches possibly. This is so to complement each other.

I PREFER TO USE THE TOP-DOWN APPROACH BECAUSE IT IS EASIER AND ALLOWS EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM TO HAVE A INPUT AND TRANSPARENCY CAN BE ACHIEVED.

In my opinion it is best to combine all 3 approaches as not all approaches would work on every expense you'd like to estimate.

I believe the three approaches are best to a particular situation at hand, based on the explanation from the module I can suggest that the parametric approach would be easily utilised when the project is an experienced one, where the data for activities expenses are already known or else multiplying with the wrong unit value Will give a wrong budget, therefore a re-occurring project scope where the manager is experienced with the event, parametric seems to be the best, but for a novel or inexperienced manager, top-down will be the most convenient maybe not the best but most workable, the bottom-down will find it most convenient with a small project scope where finance might not even Matter much, like a project goals involving, small participate as beneficiaries.

in my opinion ,the bottom up approach is more suiting though time consuming but its realistic because estimates are done by a person who is actually doing the job yet top down cost estimates may not be real

I will prefer to use the Bottom -Up method to estimate project cost. This is because it gives the other team members chance of participating in the cost estimation build up while also rendering their expertise in any areas of the activities relevant to their majors. Also, trust issues can be dealt with by applying parametric method to validate cost projections of some activities. Having the three methods synced together can make project cost estimates much perfectly estimated.

Parametric is the best and not complex,because you can multiple a material per unit in other to know how much it cost, if you are to purchase more material for the work.

Bottom up is the most useful tool for creating a budget as it will reflect the realities of the field

The parametric approach is the best approach, because it reduces possibility of budget inflation

I'm just starting as a PM with a project, and I'd find the parametric approach more difficult than the others due to the nature of our work. A combination of top-down and bottom-up would probably work best when working as a consultant with an organization. Ultimately, the organization would be the experts and would have budgets from prior events. It'd be best that I consult that and my counterpart at the organization to develop a budget. Parametric would be helpful with very specific parts of event planning in this case.

Depending on the project environment , as for Volatile environment I prefer Top-down method as the information required to develop accurate duration and costs estimates is not available while for stable environment viable to develop well-defined schedules & budget I prefer to use Bottom- Up approaches

I would combine all the methods, depending on the nature of the project.
You might end up working with top down and parametric to have your project in order. Understanding the project needs and nature makes it easier to pick a method as all three work best.

I agree with @Joeblerk because the parametric approach works best in all three situations..

Throughout the cost estimation process, I may face difficulties of some activities which do not match with the approach that I have chosen to use. In that case, I will prefer to consider all the three approaches depending on which activity to estimate.

Personally, I believe the parametric budgeting methods works best - in general. This is because in using a standard unit cost, an organization is easily able to cover variable and fixed costs of project delivery, without having to spend too much adjusting their project scope, budget or timeline.

However, our organization uses a combination of Top Down and Bottom Up Budgeting in developing our project budgets. Considering our donor requirements, we engage experts and our team to ensure that our budget lines make sense and will allow us to deliver the project scope on time!

For me parametric approach will be easier for me this is because will know the approximate costs and will just calculate how much i will use per the department.
Like for example the project am dealing with is more on buying materials hence parametric will help a bigger part on budgeting

Someone kindly help with critical path

In my field, parametric cost estimates are the most commonly used. In building construction most countries have standard methods of measurements and market rates for different items of work which makes budgeting easier and quicker. It is also very easy to monitor costs and and variations in the scope can easier be costed.

This is the longest sequence on your Gantt chart. If your are using Microsoft project, check the network diagram, the critical path is usually indicated in red.

I believe that you should us the bottom to up approach whenever possible because it gives approximate near to accurate costs

Depending on the project environment , as for Volatile environment I prefer Top-down method as the information required to develop accurate duration and costs estimates is not available while for stable environment viable to develop well-defined schedules & budget I prefer to use Bottom- Up approaches

@ThaoTran said in Module 2 Discussion: Estimating Costs:

This is the module 2 discussion. You may participate in this discussion after beginning module 2.

In this module, you have learned about three approaches to estimating project costs: top-down, bottom-up, and parametric.

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to generate cost estimates? Make sure to explain your response.

Sample response: I believe that you should use the _______ approach whenever possible because _______________ .

@ThaoTran said in Module 2 Discussion: Estimating Costs:

This is the module 2 discussion. You may participate in this discussion after beginning module 2.

In this module, you have learned about three approaches to estimating project costs: top-down, bottom-up, and parametric.

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to generate cost estimates? Make sure to explain your response.

Sample response: I believe that you should use the _______ approach whenever possible because _______________ .

@ThaoTran said in Module 2 Discussion: Estimating Costs:

This is the module 2 discussion. You may participate in this discussion after beginning module 2.

In this module, you have learned about three approaches to estimating project costs: top-down, bottom-up, and parametric.

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to generate cost estimates? Make sure to explain your response.

Sample response: I believe that you should use the _______ approach whenever possible because _______________ .

In my opinion, the parametric approach seems like the best way to go about cost estimates but as we can deduce from the top-down and bottom-up, budgets can be relative and a project manager should capitalize on the advantages each budgeting approach presents. For e.g. a huge project will definitely need advise from experts on the cost of peculiar activities as in the top down approach whereas the despite the dishonesty that may arise form the bottom-up approach, it is the duty of a project manager to have general knowledge of a bit everything to be able curb such instances. In addition to creating a tolerance of +/- 5% for every budget, all approaches to budgeting must be considered in order arrive at a relatively accurate budget when estimating costs.

My assumption is to combine both approaches which will work best when preparing budget.

Ce que j'ai aimé ce cours, il ma permis de bien mesurer le coût et le temps ou le calendrier du projet

I believe using all three approaches of estimating costs that are parametric, bottom up and top- down effectively will be the way of estimating costs.

For me Joshua, the most effective way to produce cost estimates is to do your budget planning well, to classify each activity with its expense. For example, if the project requires that we can employ two volunteers who will work for data analysis for 10 days, I know that they will have a salary of 1000 dollars. it is who will make the presentation and the final report in their will pay as much, those who will collect the data will have as much with a well-adjusted duration so as not to avoid project time overruns and to avoid unforeseen events

I believe that you should use a blended approach whenever possible because not one approach can give you the best budget. For different activities the scenario is usually different you may find a top up or bottom up is necessary for some while a parametric approach is more accurate for most items

I believe you should use parametric estimates because there are two advantages of using this estimate. First, if you know the cost of certain things before spending money it'll be easy to manage it and losses or averages can also be calculated. Second one is that you can take help by searching and visiting market to know the cost more accurately. In this way, it'll minimize the losses as well as people dishonesty.

I believe that you should use the bottom-up approach whenever possible because it will be the most accurate, as those who are actually incurring the expenses can most accurately reflect and forecast what the correcting budget will be. Any concerns about dishonest employee spending practices can be remedied by a thorough and detailed accountability system where employees are audited and provide receipts for their expenses.

A challenge to parametric is that not all costs and expenses are scalable. A cost of a pallet of wood is easy to estimate. But if you need to, for example, rent multiple buildings in multiple cities, it is not a uniform price per square foot, building, etc.

I believe that you should use the three methods approach whenever possible because parametric can only be used when set parameters are known, where some of the activities may be unknown that is where to use the Top down as this will involve experts and some managers. while the bottom up which is realistic if you find good and honest people as the implementers of the project.

I believe the parametric approach is the best because it isn't based on assumptions, one just needs to have a real-time cost-per-unit of each item or activity and multiply it by the quantity that's required.

Parametric is the simplest to use bcoz it's does require much but just to know how much cost of the item u need then multiply the cost of one item to the total number of items you want

Parametric is the simplest to use bcoz it's does require much but just to know how much cost of the item u need then multiply the cost of one item to the total number of items you want

I believe that the parametric approach is the best as long as the exact unit prices are obtained. It involves working with facts of figures which can also make approximation of miscellaneous easy.

I think i will used bottom-up approach since individual who are going to utilizes the money in engage in it and can help produce realistic cost estimate.

I believe that you should use the bottom-up approach as it produces more realistic cost estimates

I think i will used bottom-up approach since individual who are going to utilizes the money in engage in it and can help produce realistic cost estimate.

the method i will use is the parametric method of cost estimation. the parametric saves a lot of money because it gives close approximation

I believe that the most effective approach is the top down approach since it saves time. The estimates should however be as realistic as possible.

I have learnt that when you are creating a based activity ,you need to assign an estimated cost to the activity you are planning to do.

I have learnt a lot about generating cost estimates

I believe that you should use the analytic estimate also called bottom-up approach whenever possible because it is one the best and most accurate though time consuming. It breaks down the project into smaller parts and then create most accurate cost estimates for the variables.

I have personally used all approach but in cases that permit, the parametric approach has constantly proven more easier to work with.

The Bottom-up approach is typically more reliable and preferred for estimating because it assesses each work package from the bottom, working up to a deliverable and phase. It is practical to use when project schedules and budget from previous similar projects are available for reference. However, I will start with top down and use bottom up to confirm my readings

Module+1+Work+Breakdown+Structure+Pragya (1).pdf

For me with some adjustment, I prefer to use top-down approach because most of the time senior managers have more knowledge and experience than lower level managers. Further, they do have more detailed understanding about the project, therefore, they know which costs shall be included and excluded than other but still they must consult with their subordinate managers to make it more effective.

yes, it may help to get more accurate cost, however, some items may not have a parameter

I believe that the parametric is the most effective way to gauge costs for more consistent things such as materials but there needs to be other kinds of estimate techniques as well because prices can change

I believe you should use the bottom-up approach, because the person implementing a specific task knows how much she will be spending on that task, and the project is more likely to run smoothly. Despite having a few challenges like the staff over budgeting. I still think the advantages out weigh the disadvantages.

Parametric costs work best for my organisation as we have reliably estimated the cost for each activity per unit. And we adjust it every year for other exigencies.

the most appropriate that i preferred is parametric, however is not appropriate every cost of project but generating cost discussion is important to us because you can get easily more information in it. it is good to use top up approach some costs especially any cost that related to the previous projects. using bottom up approach is the best for using cost estimation.

okay. though for me parametric is not so inclusive and I would love to include every one during this stage, so i would go for Bottom-up

I believe in the combination of both bottom-up, Top- Down and parametric approache for sufficient cost estimation in the project during the planning because of the following mainly reasons

• it helps to have sufficient current actual information by resources cost
• it contributed to the timely and effectively decision making

I believe that you should use three approach whenever possible because when being effort to our needs or achievement for projects, we have some research, other managers to come up with cost estimate at times, for that, use top-down, and then to keep in touch with real cost, sometimes use bottom-up as well as parametric

I would prefer parametric approach because COST-PER- UNIT are readily available in most business set ups in my locality. Therefore, it is just important to know the quantities you require then do you maths.

From my review the parametric
Approach is the best

Parametric and bottom up approach are the most effective approach for estimating cost

Simply because it is can be realistic and avoids over budget expense. though parametric approach might not be applicable to all items but it is applicable to most commodities/services. As most of the items tend to be sold per unit cost. Hence knowing the unit cost of an item allows you to make real estimates and even gives advantage in case of discounts.

While for bottom up approach would ensure that individuals who created the estimates, made real costs, the project manager would have least task to calculate as such individuals already calculated; he will instead be summing up.

Thanks

i prefer parametric approach because it is accurate with the estimates

In my opinion, the best ways could be combining the three.

from my experience in leading complex civil engineer project, the more you have verifiable date, the parametric approach is the best 'cause you can verify the cost per unit of each cost

I think that it is difficult to choose one of the approaches, as each project is unique and might require more of one certain approach than another project. As often said in the discussion board, ideally all three approaches should be combined, but a project which wants to implement hygiene awareness in communities to stop the spread of Covid-19 might not require a lot of physical material, making the parametric approach harder to use. Therefore, I think there is no "one size fits all" solution, as each project must be regarded individually, making a decision on which approach should be used based on the project needs and resources.

I believe that you should use the parametric approach whenever possible because it gives close to exactly cost .

i would prefer parametric cost estimate to the others as it is real, and it gives a real average cost to be expected without bias

I think that the bottom-up is the most effective one as it is based on trust within the team. It helps the project coordinator to minimize the risks of going low during implementation. Now, knowing that it might be time-consuming, the project coordinator can allocate this tasks to many experts to go fast.

That's okay. But not everything can be estimated through that. I humbly would choose bottom-up as it helps me weigh the level of honesty of my peers

I think applying all the three approaches should be used to effectively plan a budget. However, parametric is the best approach but in some cases it becomes difficult to calculate per unit cost and supportive cost also has to be calculated for this top- down and bottom- up approach has to be used.

i shall be use the parametric approach because it can be calculated correctly by using software like microsoft excel

I believe that you should use the parametric approach whenever possible because I find it simpler to work with and the estimates are quite more accurate as compare to the other approaches.

A blend of all three approaches will help to create reliable project budget. People working on ground level can give realistic estimates of expenses from their experiences. From top-down, researchers can add their margins to these estimates using tools/analysis and building even more full-proof budget. By using parametric approach the rest of expenses can be included basis cost per unit which leaves very little room for error or going over budget.

I think top-down and bottom-up are equally important because there are some things whose cost cannot be estimated exactly.

Budge is a very important part of project, to get a budge we need to write a good project, plan all the activities, make a schedule, and also calculated the costs of the risks that could have.

well personally, i'd go with the mix of Top-down approach[this gives you a professional insight to the cost of an activity] and Bottom-up approach[while this gives you and operational insight to the cost of an activity].
when fused together these 2 approaches are key to any form of budgetting.

On my team, which is small and close knit, the bottom-up method of cost estimation is best. We are talk to the specialists as well as do research to determine estimates. My program works within a grant that developed a very broad budget for our multi-year project, so we are budgeting within those years and for specific events. In that way, the budgeting process is probably more of a hybrid between top-down and bottom-up.

Apart from the issue of dishonesty on the part of some members of the team, i believe the most suitable approach is the Bottom-up approach because it checks overbudgeting and also promote inclusiveness and participation of all members of the project team.

I think the best option is to make the three approaches and compare them.

I think the best option is to make the three approaches and compare them.

I'm my own opinion I think the combination of all the approaches will strengthen the budget! Why I say so it's because all of the three approaches have weaknesses and applicability issues for example:
1.The top down approach is weak because the cost of materials may be different as per estimation.
2.Bottom up approach depends on experts on the ground who may either be dishonest or may do short cut means to impress the project manager by reducing costs while compromising quality.
3.parametric approach is not applicable to every expense of cost for example issues to do with food or feeding or fuel for the Project. Workers may consume more or less than perceived and Fuel consumption of machinery may be high or low overall affecting the entire project.
For me all approaches should be used and applied to make the Budget effective!

Of all 3 approaches to developing an activity-based budget, I strongly prefer the Parametric Approach. This is because it saves more time as the cost per unit is already known and overhead cost will be deduced simply by multiplying individual cost by the number of units required, reduces the stress of back and forth as may occur using the top-down or bottom-up approach and most importantly reduces greatly the possiblity of dishonesty as an already established and certified cost per unit is then used to calcite the overhead cost. Really a great approcah and will be a first option for me. May combine other approaches if need be or rely on other approaches if the cost per unit of goods and/or services cannot be accurately determined.

Parametric Form of budget is the best way of doing things I vote for it.

Top-bottom would be preferable as you achieve your aim within a short time while getting the cost-related information you want.

cost estimates its better on the parametric but its too extremely expensive on the contrary top-down also best but time consuming.

Parametric estimates are more reliable because they take into consideration real cost on the market

I think you should use what you feel works for you.
What makes your work effective the most.

For me, I believe that the combination of both top-down and bottom-up will be best to apply hence it will help you to compare and contrast. although the application of both maybe more time consuming. however, it will in my own opinion give one the best look into estimating the costs

I was planning to ask the same question when I get to the discussion too and it is here already, i think like the last clause stated, it is better to use the three, the experts maybe too detailed and forget to capture some risk, individuals in bottom up may want to extort and market prices may change for the parametric

Bottom-up method is the most appropriate one for smaller organisations, however, mostly Erasmus+ project managers in the first place consider the parametric method.

I completely agree with you. However, you need to consider that this can be only implemented for the stabilise economies. If the economy of x country is not stabile, that would cause the estimate the future prices too. Do you agree or disagree?

I will blend two approaches the bottom-up and the parametric approach, The individuals who will actually be spending the money will create cost estimates and instead of putting in their own estimated figures I urge them to use the parametric approach for the estimates. The cost-per-unit, that way prices can cross-checked and verified by someone or everyone to make sure that we don't have cases of dishonesty in expenses.

i think we should go through all the three approaches and we will get the clear idea after that than we can go for the final budget

I would have love to use the parametric method of estimating cost but because this method is not realistic, I think the top-down method is good, but the best is to combine the three as it has been recommended by the tutor.

estimating costs is one of the important aspect of a project the three approaches top-down, bottom-up, parametric
the one to avoid is the top-down but for smoot project to go on parametric i prefer and a touch of the bottom-up.