Practical guides for better project decisions
Short, practical resources for Project Managers and digital teams.
Estimate work, plan realistic delivery dates, prepare tickets, qualify leads and manage project launches.
Estimate work
Software Task Estimation: A Practical Guide
Learn how to create useful first-pass estimates without pretending you know the exact number of hours.
Read guide ESTIMATIONTask Estimation Checklist
A practical checklist for reviewing scope, complexity, uncertainty and delivery risk before estimating a task.
Read guide ESTIMATIONHow Much Buffer Should a Software Estimate Include?
Learn when an estimate needs a buffer, what should influence it and why a single fixed percentage usually isn't enough.
Read guide ESTIMATIONWhen should you re-estimate a software task?
Learn which new facts justify changing an estimate and how to communicate the change without hiding the original assumptions.
Read guidePlan delivery
How to Calculate a Realistic Project Delivery Date
Turn an effort estimate into a delivery date using real capacity, working days, public holidays and a sensible planning buffer.
Read guide CAPACITYHow to Convert Estimated Hours Into Working Days
Convert an hourly estimate into working days without assuming that every day contains eight project hours.
Read guide PROJECT CALENDARWorking Days and Public Holidays in Project Planning
Understand how weekends, public holidays and local work calendars affect a project delivery date.
Read guide DELIVERY PLANNINGHow Much Buffer Should You Add to a Project Delivery Date?
Use delivery buffer for normal variation without hiding a poor estimate, unclear scope or known dependencies.
Read guide PROJECT DEADLINESDeadline vs Delivery Date: What’s the Difference?
Compare an expected deadline with the delivery date supported by scope, effort, capacity and the working calendar.
Read guide DELIVERY PLANNINGEffort versus capacity: why delivery dates slip
Understand why 40 hours of work rarely mean one calendar week and how to calculate a realistic delivery window.
Read guidePrepare work for development
Acceptance Criteria: A Practical Guide
Write clear, testable acceptance criteria without inventing requirements that were never agreed.
Read guide TASK READINESSTask Readiness Checklist: Is This Ticket Ready for Development?
Check scope, expected behaviour, decisions and edge cases before handing a ticket to development.
Read guide REFINEMENTDefinition of Ready vs Acceptance Criteria — What’s the Difference?
Definition of Ready checks whether work can start; acceptance criteria describe the result to accept.
Read guide REFINEMENTHow to Write a Good Development Ticket: Practical Examples
See how vague requests become actionable development tickets without heavy specifications.
Read guide TASK READINESSHow to resolve ticket unknowns before development
Turn missing requirements into focused questions with owners, options and decision dates before implementation starts.
Read guideQualify opportunities
Lead Qualification: A Practical Guide
A simple framework for deciding whether an opportunity is worth involving your sales, project or delivery team.
Read guide LEAD QUALIFICATIONLead Qualification Checklist
A quick checklist covering fit, commercial value, readiness and risk before moving a lead forward.
Read guide LEAD QUALIFICATIONProject Lead Red Flags
Warning signs that suggest you should clarify, slow down or walk away before committing your team.
Read guide LEAD QUALIFICATIONWhat to do after a lead qualification call
Turn a discovery call into a clear next step: proposal, focused follow-up, paid discovery or a respectful no.
Read guideCheck project readiness
Project Readiness Checklist
Check whether scope, decisions, access, dependencies and delivery setup are ready enough for work to begin.
Read guide PROJECT READINESSIs the Project Ready to Start?
Use a simple decision framework to choose start, start with caution or do not start yet.
Read guide PROJECT READINESSProject Kickoff Checklist
Prepare a focused kickoff that confirms objectives, ownership, dependencies and the first next steps.
Read guide PROJECT READINESSProject Blockers Before Development
Distinguish blockers from risks, assumptions and ordinary unknowns before the team begins development.
Read guide PROJECT READINESSHow to assign owners to project blockers
Turn a readiness check into an actionable blocker list with owners, evidence and decision dates.
Read guidePrepare for go-live
Go-Live Checklist: A Practical Guide
Build a right-sized launch check covering quality, content, SEO, integrations, deployment and recovery.
Read guide GO-LIVEWebsite Launch Checklist
A focused pre-launch checklist for content, links, forms, mobile, SEO, analytics, consent, domain and SSL.
Read guide GO-LIVEWeb Project Go-Live Readiness
Prepare an application or integration-heavy web project for a controlled production release.
Read guide GO-LIVESoftware Project Handover Checklist
Transfer repositories, environments, accounts, documentation, known issues and support ownership without leaving hidden dependencies.
Read guide GO-LIVEHow to run a go-live decision meeting
Run a short GO or NO-GO meeting with evidence, named decision makers and a usable rollback plan.
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