• You don't know what your project will need, so how can you develop a project budget?
• You assume that running the project is your job and resourcing the project is your Prime's responsibility.
• You are concerned that if the Prime knew what the project would cost up front, s/he'd never commit to it, so you front load resources so s/he's got to keep providing or lose the initial project investment.
• You subscribe to the "Drunken Sailor" philosophy of spending.

Why You Should

You avoid the fatal mistake of PRIME MOVER SURPRISE, as in "This is going to cost WHAT!!".

You help your Prime understand why each substantial resource is required to meet your deadlines and ROI estimates and, by doing so, you provide him/her with ammunition to get the resources from the folks who hold bigger purse strings than s/he does.

You learn why some resources aren't going to be forthcoming under any circumstances, thereby giving you the chance to either (a) find a lower cost workaround, (b) solve the problem by stretching out the project schedule or (c) convince the Prime Mover that, given resource constraints, the project is better off shelved before money is lost in what would become a non-performing investment (the project).

You help your Prime develop a budget schedule that ensures project resources are available on a Just-In-Time basis rather than having them, while lying in wait in some budget category, become a target for ad hoc initiatives in search of funding.

 

Some Tips On How To

Go through your fact finding notes from Prime Mover, participant, end-user and vendor interviews, looking for every non-routine resource that must be included in the project budget. Include any information you've captured about when the resource will be needed.

Separate the list into 'All or Nothing' and 'Variable' categories (AoN means that you've either got the resource or you don't while Variable means that there are levels or degrees of the resource that could be used in the project).

For the items on the Variable list that represent a significant cost, estimate a Mini-Max 2x2, where you list the minimum and maximum amount/form of the resource (and the related costs) in the top two blocks and likely impact on project return of these two extremes in the bottom two blocks. Be as precise (read 'credible') as you can be with these estimates, but don't let your need to make an educated guess keep you from Mini-Maxing.

Present the preliminary project budget to the Prime for discussion, focusing any negotiation (Prime's frequently want more for less), on the Variable items and their impact on project outcomes.