PMcrunch

“Culture” has a lot of impact on the performance of work on a project - or simply overall project performance. Therefore, cultural considerations are very important when estimating the work effort. Cultures are not limited to countries or regions; they are just as important within organizations that share virtually the same location and language.

Definition of Culture

Let us define Culture. Wikipedia says the following about culture:

“Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be "understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another (Findley, Rothney p. 14). Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity.”

I think this is a good definition to use as a basis for further discussion of the influence of "project culture" on estimating.

Influence of World Cultures When Estimating

I am not going to make generalities here about specific regions of the world. However, here are a few points to consider from where you sit now:

1. Are you surrounded by people that you would call hard working?
2. How much leisure time do people tend to take as compared to time at work?
3. What time do people come in, in the morning? 
4. What time do people leave at night?
5. Do people tend to take lunch breaks and if so for how long?
6. Are there a lot of meetings and are meetings long or short, and especially, are the meetings productive?
7. How many hours of work do you really think people complete where you are right now?
8. What are the most hours and what are the fewest hours?
9. How many hours does the most productive person get done and how many hours does the least productive get done?
10. Do people generally have the skill levels required to do the work or do you have easy access to people that do?
11. If you are not getting the productivity that you need, will you be able to replace project resources in order to achieve the desired productivity?

Culture Related to Location and Language

Here are some key points to consider:

1. Does this culture have a reputation more for leisure or more for work?
2. What typical work hours do you see people working within this International Culture?
3. Do people in this culture tend to have a lot of money, have a lot of time, or have a lot of interest outside work?
4. What is the influence of family values on propensity to work? Some people are motivated to work more due to family influences where others are influenced to work less.
5. Do people live near the workplace? Is living near the workplace valued?
6. What can you say about the “peer pressure” effect? Do people encourage each other to work harder, play harder, relax more, be more productive, what is it where you sit now?

Cultural Factors and Estimating

Estimates of time for completing work can potentially vary wildly depending upon cultural factors. Cultural factors alone can reveal that you could estimate 2 to 4 hours per day of work in one situation, but 12 hours or even more in another situation. Being keenly aware of this can help you to estimate accurately and realistically and can give you some clues as to how you might source the work on your project.
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John Reiling, PMP
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