Aisha, an experienced project manager, has successfully managed many new build-outs of office space for her east coast company. Her manager announced today that they will be expanding operations to the Midwest. The company had already signed a lease for 5,000 square feet of office space in Cincinnati, and the offices had to be up and running in 3 months. He asked Aisha for a cost estimate for this construction by the end of the day. How can she come up with a credible estimate so quickly

B. Ask the manager questions about the new office space to understand the impacted departments that will be located there, the level of finishes desired, etc. then use the budgets of previous similar projects as a guideline.

C. Create a work breakdown structure by using another previous project and create a bottom-up estimate for each work package.

D. Go through all office buildouts for the past five years. Calculate an average construction cost per square foot and multiply the 5,000 square feet by this cost per square feet to calculate the budget

Explanation: The correct answer is B. Ask the manager questions about the new office space to understand the impacted departments that will be located there, the level of finishes desired, etc. then use the budgets of previous similar projects as a guideline.

Aisha is an experienced project manager, and project managers work with plans, budgets, and timelines. This case would not be different, and in order for Aisha to come up with a credible estimate, she will need specifics from the manager about certain aspects of the new project.

All the information she gathers from the manager will help in forming an educated estimate.