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Estimating Culture |
Estimating Culture
The nature of relationships between construction-estimating and between estimators and adjacent professions, is a difficult concept to navigate for an estimator who is purely interested in improving their skills.
Transparency
Because of the purpose-of-construction-estimating#The Myth of Estimate Accuracy, estimators are highly guarded of their personal processes, because detailed analysis of these processes would reveal that every one of us is a "bad" estimator.
Accountability
Estimators have a reputation for causing problems others have to solve.
Because of the nature of the bid process, estimators work on projects for a while, and then never look at them again until trouble arises. Because they are not expected to ever look at their work again, they have no incentive to reveal errors as they can simply plead ignorance if the error is discovered.
Incentives
I strongly oppose any project-based incentive structure for estimators. Such a structure is at odds with the purpose-of-construction-estimating, and is an example of a incentives#Perverse Incentive.
This behavior should be regulated by an accompanying disincentive structure, but equivalent punishment becomes unfeasible before monetary rewards become effective. The absolute worst disincentive an estimator faces is termination, which, with fully-remote options available, is only an inconvenience.
The timeline to recognize an estimate was deliberately misrepresented is not much shorter than that of the project.
Such incentives therefore create a game-theory between the estimator and the employer where the employer is hopelessly outmatched, and the estimator's strategy#Strictly Dominant Strategy--- resisted only by their personal-values--- is to abuse the system: to bid fast, take the bag, lie often, and leave when people get too suspicious.
Collaboration
Estimation is a profession ripe for productive collaboration. With intelligent work breakdown, jobs can be cleanly segmented for work in parallel. Estimators working in the same room can be an invaluable resource for brainstorming ideas and beneficial conversation.
%% I wrote that last line before I left my previous position where I had a private office. %%
It is the failure of estimating culture and of construction-estimating-software that so many estimators are wary of collaboration.
The value of a second set of eyes can not be overstated.
It can be impossible for one estimator to parse the work of another; the strategies enjoyed by some may seem counterintuitive to others. It is not practical to mandate a single methodology for all estimators of a nationwide company, nor is it wise to accept all methodologies as equally valid.
Compromising, a small group of estimators with direct communication can be expected to develop and maintain a consistent methodology, such that any member can independently verify the work of another. This is best enforced with an expectation of collaboration on all projects, even those that could be done by one person.
Technicality
In other industries, estimating is treated appropriately like a data science. In ours, intuition dominates decision making.
%% TODO: %% estimator-calibration ai-in-estimating
Making estimation more efficient and enjoyable requires a unified effort by estimators to embrace the statistical aspects of our field.
- Be competent with every tool available to you.
- Always assume there is a better way to complete a given task.