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Statistical PERT

Statistical PERT® (SPERT®) is a probabilistic estimation technique that lets anyone create probabilistic estimates for bell-shaped uncertainties – for free!

March 22, 2024 –  Statistical PERT Cherry Blossom Edition Version 1.3 is released! This special edition of Statistical PERT forecasts when the cherry blossoms will be at their peak in Washington, DC. In 2024, the peak occurred on March 17, so Version 1.3 includes this data in the forecast model. Note: The Cherry Blossom Edition is a Bonus Download found on the right-side column of the download page.

January 13, 2024 –  Statistical PERT Beta Edition Version 3.3.2 and Statistical PERT Lognormal Edition Version 2.0.1 and Statistical PERT Bootstrap Edition Version 1.1.5 are released. This updates the Statistical PERT Beta, Lognormal and Bootstrap Editions example workbooks and templates with date data values reflecting 2024-2025.

January 8, 2024 –  Statistical PERT Normal Edition Version 5.1.2 is released. This updates the Statistical PERT Normal Edition example workbook and template with date data values reflecting 2024-2025.

March 24, 2023 –  Statistical PERT Cherry Blossom Edition Version 1.2 is released! This special edition of Statistical PERT forecasts when the cherry blossoms will be at their peak in Washington, DC. In 2023, the peak occurred yesterday, March 23, so Version 1.2 includes this data in the forecast model. I used this special edition of SPERT to plan a trip to the DC area months ago. I’ll arrive one week from today, which is one week after the peak was announced by the National Park Service. Still, it should still be a great spectacle to see unless the forecasted rain knocks down a lot of blossoms. Note: The Cherry Blossom Edition is a Bonus Download found on the right-side column of the download page.

March 22, 2023 –  Statistical PERT Lognormal Edition Version 2.0 is released! This new version adds the SPERT Scheduler worksheet to the Lognormal Edition, a feature that is also available in both the Normal and Beta Editions. The Lognormal Edition’s SPERT Scheduler uses the lognormal distribution to model project critical path task/activity duration uncertainty. Other minor tweaks were made throughout, too.

March 12, 2023 –  I enjoyed meeting agilists who came to the Agile International Conference 2023 in Miami, Florida. My speaking session, “You Can Bet On It: How To Set Stakeholder Expectations about Your Agile Uncertainties” was well-received by those in attendance. Be Bayesian!

March 4, 2023 –  I’ve updated all the Statistical PERT example workbooks and templates to update date data values with dates reflecting 2023-2024.

March 3, 2023 –  I’ve updated MyScrumBudget™ to Version 1.3. This new version uses an explicit date format for the Project Start Date input cell so the date headings in row 6 will calculate correctly. Users with different regional settings that didn’t use mm/dd/yyyy date format had an error when entering the Project Start Date.

May 28, 2022 –  I’ve updated the special Cherry Blossom Edition of Statistical PERT® to reflect the actual cherry blossom peak for 2022 (which occurred on March 21, 2022). The special Cherry Blossom Edition of Statistical PERT can help you assess how likely you will see the Washington, D.C. cherry blossoms at their fullest during a trip you might take to the DC area within the March-April timeframe.

April 18, 2022 –  Join me next month, May 5th and 6th, at the University of Maryland’s Project Management Symposium where I’ll be presenting for the third year in a row: “What Can You See in Your CFD (Cumulative Flow Diagram)?“. This presentation will examine how to use the new, dynamic, CFD inside the Statistical PERT Normal Edition. You’ll learn what a CFD is, why it’s used, and how to easily create one using SPERT. I used SPERT’s CFD to help a failing Scrum team gain visibility and control over their out-of-control workflow process, and that led to a successful turnaround over a six month period of time.

January 1, 2022 –  I’ve released Version 1.0 of Statistical PERT® Lognormal Edition, a brand-new edition of the SPERT family of spreadsheet-based, statistical models. In this new model, you can model uncertainty using Excel’s built-in functions for the lognormal distribution. Moreover, I’ve updated ALL Statistical PERT models with a minor update to include USA federal holidays for 2022-2023 (on those models that have a Scheduler worksheet), and an enhanced Change Log so anyone can modify SPERT spreadsheets and the spreadsheets will automatically (and correctly) include a footer copyright notice that is in accordance with the GNU GPL and this site’s Terms of Service agreement. Download the latest version of all your favorite SPERT spreadsheets!

December 17, 2021 –  Join me next year, May 5th and 6th, at the University of Maryland’s Project Management Symposium where I’ll be presenting for the third year in a row: “What Can You See in Your CFD (Cumulative Flow Diagram)?“. This presentation will examine how to use the new, dynamic, CFD inside the Statistical PERT Normal Edition. You’ll learn what a CFD is, why it’s used, and how to easily create one using SPERT.

November 7, 2021 –  With the recent Microsoft announcement of the newest standalone version of its popular productivity suite, Office 2021, which also includes Excel 2021, I have decided to stop supporting users who open Statistical PERT spreadsheets on older versions of Excel (specifically, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013). Although Statistical PERT will—for now—continue to function well using Excel 2010 and Excel 2013, some of the newer features of Statistical PERT, such as the use of a histogram chart, is not a feature that is available in Excel 2013 and earlier. Also, I will be deprecating the use of the CONCATENATE function in future releases of Statistical PERT. Microsoft deprecated the CONCATENATE function when it introduced its replacement, the CONCAT function in Excel 2019. I encourage all users of Statistical PERT running Excel 2013 or earlier to upgrade to Excel 2021 or Microsoft 365 (which offers Excel users the latest features available).

September 5, 2021 –  I will be presenting at two virtual conferences this fall. The first conference is the PMI Washington DC Chapter’s Virtual Project Management Symposium, held September 22-23. My presentation is on September 23, “When Will It Be Done?” from 1P-2P (Eastern USA). The second conference is the 2021 Risk Awareness Week, a week-long virtual conference where my pre-recorded session, “A Beginner’s Path to Probabilistic Scheduling” will explore how a project practitioner can take some baby steps into the waters of probabilistic scheduling to create a more realistic schedule that exposes risk rather than hiding it.

August 28, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 1.1 of MyScrumBudget™ which calculates a project budget for any Scrum-chartered project. I use this primarily for my Scrum projects but I also use it to calculate budgets for my traditional, non-Scrum projects, too (so I don’t have to create a resource-loaded schedule). This new minor release adds a README worksheet that explains the steps necessary to fill-out the MyScrumBudget worksheet. Download MyScrumBudget™ Version 1.1 now.

August 25, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 1.0.0 of Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition, a brand-new edition of the SPERT family of spreadsheet-based, statistical models. In this model, agile teams can create forecasts using statistical bootstrapping, which simulates future iterations by randomly selecting values from the agile team’s historical record of getting work done. Download Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 1.0.0 now.

August 14, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 5.0.3 of Statistical PERT® Normal Edition which adds optional call-out objects for use with the Burn-up Chart worksheet. Inserting call-outs on the burn-up chart makes it easier for stakeholders to interpret the probabilistic delivery dates. Download Statistical PERT® Normal Edition Version 5.0.3 now.

July 13, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 1.2 of SimSee™, a special spreadsheet to help people learn how Monte Carlo simulation works. This spreadsheet shows how increasing the number of simulated trials increases the accuracy of the resulting dataset. It uses nothing more than the built-in functions of Microsoft Excel. Download SimSee Version 1.2 now.

June 9, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 3.2 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition. This new, minor release enhances the appearance of the tri-colored, bell-curve charts using double the number (200) of random data points. Download Statistical PERT® Beta Edition Version 3.2 here.

June 5, 2021 –  I’ve released Version 5 of Statistical PERT® Normal Edition! This new, major release includes two new features: The SPERT® Normal Scheduler worksheet and the SPERT® Normal – CFD Charts worksheet. The SPERT® Normal Scheduler lets you create a probabilistic project schedule using the normal distribution, while SPERT® – CFD Charts visualizes a team’s workflow by creating a dynamic, cumulative flow diagramDownload Statistical PERT® Normal Edition Version 5 here.

May 31, 2021 –  I’ve created a special edition of Statistical PERT® for people who want to visit Washington, D.C. during the cherry blossom season (between March and April each year) and want to see the cherry blossoms at their peak bloom. The SPERT® Cherry Blossom Edition answers the question, “What is the likelihood of seeing the cherry blossoms at their peak bloom during my visit?” Download the Statistical PERT® Cherry Blossom Edition here.

April 28, 2021 –  Next month (May), I resume my monthly webinars by focusing on building a decision tree using Microsoft Excel. I’ve prepared an 11-step process that walks learners through the steps of creating a decision tree for a complex decision of importance. We will explore my personal decision tree, Sagacity, which I created when I wanted to evaluate my personal risks related to the Covid-19 virus and potential negative impacts from receiving a Covid-19 vaccine, particularly one of the new mRNA vaccines from Moderna or Pfizer. This webinar will reveal how different people might arrive at different, rationaldecisions based upon their own sources of information, personal risk assessment and personal values. The webinar is free. Registration is required.

April 23, 2021 –  Today I presented at the University of Maryland’s 2021 Project Management Symposium (“The Art of Data-driven Forecasting”). This presentation built upon last year’s presentation which showed how to use SPERT’s burn-up chart for agile teams. Every agile forecaster should ask and answer six important questions to create a better-fitting burn-up chart. Download the PDF whitepaper.

April 20, 2021 –  Are you conflicted whether or not to receive a Covid-19 vaccine? If you are not, do you know someone who is? I’ve created a new spreadsheet model called Sagacity™ which is a pre-built decision tree using only the native functions inside Microsoft Excel. Use Sagacity to self-assess your Covid-19 risks and the relative impacts of different risk events that might occur. The decision tree will evaluate your inputs and offer a suggestion on whether you should vaccinate or not based upon your own self-assessment. Download Sagacity™ Version 0.3.2 here.

December 17, 2020 – Today, Statistical PERT® Normal Edition became the 7th most popular deliverable on the Project Management Institute’s sister site, ProjectManagement.com. Thanks to PMI, project practitioners, other business professionals, educators and students have discovered how SPERT makes it easy to create probabilistic estimates and forecasts using the built-in functions of Microsoft Excel.

November 1, 2020 – I will be presenting at two PMI chapter events this month. On Thursday, November 12 from 12P-1P (Eastern USA), I will present a webinar on behalf of the PMI Montreal Chapter: “Forecast Delivery Dates for Your Agile Projects Using a Probabilistic Burn-up Chart.” Then on Monday, November 23 from 11:50A-12:20P (Eastern USA), I will provide a TED Talk-styled presentation on behalf of PMI Poland Chapter’s 15th International Congress on “The Art of Data-Driven Forecasting.” Come join me for one or both events!

October 29, 2020 – I have a new course available on Pluralsight: Monte Carlo Simulation Fundamentals. In this course, you’ll learn how to model product development uncertainties (how long will this project take? when will the next agile release be ready?) using a Monte Carlo simulation model using only the built-in functions of Microsoft Excel. By the end of this course, you’ll know what a Monte Carlo simulation is, why it’s used, and how to create your own Monte Carlo simulation using the built-in functions inside Microsoft Excel.

August 13, 2020 – I’ve released Version 3.0.1 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition, which modifies the start and finish date calculations on the SPERT® Scheduler worksheet. Now, the finish date will calculate and display the end-of-work day finish date rather than calculate and display the start-of-the-next work day. This calculation aligns with how other scheduling programs work, like Microsoft Project.

August 4, 2020 – I’m announcing another new edition to the Statistical PERT family of downloads: Statistical PERT® Lognormal Edition featuring the lognormal probability distribution! The lognormal distribution is often used with probabilistic project estimates because of its unique properties. Namely, it will only include positive numbers (unlike the normal distribution) and it creates a long, right-side tail (which is common among project-based uncertainties, like task or activity estimates). The first publicly-available, development-only build (v.0.3.0) is available for downloading. The first production release of the SPERT Lognormal Edition will likely be in early 2021.

July 16, 2020 – I’ve been commissioned to create a new course for Pluralsight: Monte Carlo Simulation Fundamentals.  This new, 2-hour course should be ready by October and will feature the Monte Carlo simulation models that are built-in to both the SPERT Normal and Beta Editions, plus some other MCS models using commercial software. I’m excited to show learners around the world how to solve estimation problems using Monte Carlo simulation models!

July 8, 2020 – I’ve released MyScrumBudget™ Version 1.0.  This initial production release calculates a project budget for a Scrum team.  Just set the internal labor rates for the roles your organization uses for project budgeting, then add team members, their respective org roles, and the % time allocation for each month of the project’s duration.  Simple math incorporated into a pre-built, reuseable template.  The spreadsheet will calculate your project budget and the weekly burn-rate you can use to track budget-to-actuals.  Make sure you don’t run out of money before you run out of time!

July 4, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.8.2. This latest development version changes the Scrum worksheet so it’s possible to include expected future growth of the Product Backlog. The sample data on that worksheet shows an example of this. Many Scrum teams find that the Product Backlog will grow over time as new work emerges and new feature ideas are added.  A final, well-tested Version 1 release will probably occur towards the beginning of 2021.

June 20, 2020 – I’ve released a new spreadsheet model, SimSee™ Version 1.1.  This simple spreadsheet is something I originally created for my April 2020 webinar on Monte Carlo simulation.  SimSee helps you see how Monte Carlo simulation can estimate an uncertainty by simulating the rolling of a pair of six-sided dice.  How likely is it you’ll roll a “7”?  The different worksheets show how accuracy of the Monte Carlo simulation increases when the number of simulations increases. The last worksheet shows how Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate the duration of a 5-task project with three concurrent tasks. There’s a lot more that can be done with this spreadsheet to help people learn about Monte Carlo simulation!

June 17, 2020 – I’ve released MyScrumBudget™ Version 0.1.4.  This development build calculates a project budget for a Scrum team.  The latest version adds a Net Present Value calculation.  I’ve also released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.8.1. This latest version includes a histogram showing what might be accomplished by a user-entered number of future iterations. And I’ve included a new worksheet showing a comparison between the SPERT Bootstrap model and a similar model created using Palisade’s @Risk Monte Carlo simulation plug-in.

June 10, 2020 – I’ve released MyScrumBudget™ Version 0.1.3.  This development build calculates a project budget for a Scrum team.

June 6, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.7.3.  This development build enables specifying diminished team capacity in future iterations, and the five forecast lines will adjust accordingly.  Please note that this is still an experimental spreadsheet that I’m actively developing.

June 3, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Normal Edition Version 4.3.  This new minor release adds an all-new Team Capacity feature to the Agile Burnup Chart worksheet.  Now you can indicate when your agile team has reduced capacity in any future iteration, and the forecast lines will adjust accordingly.  This is a great enhancement ahead of the many holidays that are upcoming the second half of this year!

June 2, 2020 – I published this month’s free SPERT newsletter  Read the June newsletter and subscribe to my free, monthly newsletter to get tips, tricks, and new release notifications by email. I never sell or share your contact information with anyone, ever.

May 29, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.6.3.  This development build adds separate worksheets for Scrum and Kanban teams and conditional formatting to more easily identify important values in the forecasting table data.  Please note that this is still an experimental spreadsheet that I’m actively developing.

May 23, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.4.3.  This development build adds dynamic bootstrapping to estimate the population mean and standard deviation, which are used to construct the all-new Five-Line Forecast.  The Five-Line Forecast shows a confidence interval (90% by default) for the bootstrapped mean (average), and a larger interval for other, possible outcomes away from the mean.  Please note that this is still an experimental spreadsheet that I’m actively developing.

I also released Statistical PERT® Normal Edition Version 4.2.  This is a minor update which changes the formula on the Agile Burnup worksheet so you don’t have to drag down the latest entry on the Product Backlog column to match the last iteration finish date.  This should make using this worksheet just a little easier and more intuitive.

May 21, 2020 – I’ve publicly released Statistical PERT® Bootstrap Edition Version 0.2.4This is a completely new estimation model that uses statistical bootstrapping to forecast the future.  For agile software development teams, this new edition of SPERT will create a forecast for the future delivery of software using simulation based upon the known, historical record of the team’s “done” work.  I’ll have a lot more to say about this new edition in the future!  Please note that this is still an experimental spreadsheet that I’m actively developing.

May 11, 2020 – I’ve released Statistical PERT® Normal Edition Version 4.1.  This is a minor update which adds more statistics to the Monte Carlo simulation worksheet.

May 10, 2020 – I’ve created a new Quick Start Guide for SPERT® Beta Edition Version 3.  If you’ve downloaded the new Version 3 of the Beta Edition, and you haven’t used a SPERT spreadsheet before, I recommend downloading the Quick Start Guide to better understand how to use Statistical PERT.

May 5, 2020 – I’ve released Version 3 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition!  This is a major upgrade for the Beta Edition.  The there are two new features and one enhanced feature.  Version 3 includes a new Monte Carlo simulation worksheet, a new SPERT® Scheduler for plan-driven project scheduling, and two new scenarios on the Agile Forecast tab for easier what-if analysis.  Download this newest release on the Statistical PERT website here!

May 1, 2020 – If you’re not subscribed to my monthly SPERT newsletter, you can still read the May newsletter by clicking here.  But to ensure these nuggets of wisdom fall into your email inbox, you’ll have to subscribe to my free monthly newsletter.

April 29, 2020 – I keep track of how popular are Statistical PERT downloads on PMI’s ProjectManagement.com website.  It’s popular!  For the last 60 days, the Statistical PERT Normal Edition has been the 2nd most downloaded deliverable on PMI’s sister site, behind only the all-time-most-popular deliverable, Project Plan / Project Definition (which was available 12 years before I created Statistical PERT).  Each week, a couple of hundred project practitioners from around the world discover Statistical PERT, thanks to PMI!

April 26, 2020 – I published Version 1.2 of Soothsayer for Project Contingency. This is a minor version update to offer using three different At Risk distribution values instead of just two. The new suggestion is to use 25% which, based upon my own research using simulated project models, seemed to do a better job of creating a right-sized contingency than either of the other two suggestions (50% and 33%).

April 23, 2020 – I published Version 4.0.1 of SPERT Normal Edition and Version 2.1.1 of SPERT Beta Edition. These minor updates replace the Twitter footer link (which almost no one clicked on) with a link to subscribe to the SPERT Newsletter, plus a few minor tweaks.

April 19, 2020 – I published the spreadsheet I showed to attendees of this month’s free webinar on Monte Carlo simulation.  If you couldn’t make the webinar, you can still learn how Monte Carlo simulation works just by downloading and exploring this spreadsheet!

March 30, 2020 – I published a whitepaper (“When Will It Be Done? How to Forecast Answers to Your Toughest Agile Questions“) for this year’s University of Maryland Project Management Symposium which will be a virtual event this year due to COVID-19.  This year’s Symposium will be held online from May 7-8, 2020.  I will be presenting on Thursday, May 7 @ 10:15A (Eastern USA).

March 15, 2020 – I created a coronavirus decision tree to model how many infected people without symptoms would return to the workplace after active community transmission has subsided and a quarantine period after that point has elapsed. My take? Employers, schools and other large gatherings won’t likely resume for many weeks to come. There is simply too much risk of exposing people to the coronavirus if we move too quickly to return to our pre-coronavirus ways. Download this special edition of Statistical PERT Beta Edition here(Edit to add:  Very shortly after I published this, in an unrelated move, the United States Center for Disease Control published a notice advising against mass gatherings over 50 for the next 8 weeks).

March 12, 2020 – I modeled the incubation period for the Coronavirus (COVID-19).  You can use this model to get an approximate idea of how long it will take COVID-19 symptoms to appear if you or someone you know have been infected by this virus.  Download this special edition of Statistical PERT Beta Edition here.

February 24, 2020 – This May, I’ll be giving a TED-talk-styled presentation at the upcoming University of Maryland’s 2020 Project Management Symposium. My presentation is entitled, “When Will It Be Done?  How To Forecast Answers To Your Toughest Agile Questions.” I’ll be writing a whitepaper for the Symposium’s published proceedings after the conference, which I’ll also make available for downloading on this site.  Both my presentation and whitepaper will use Statistical PERT Normal Edition‘s new “Burn-up Chart” worksheet which lets agile teams create a probabilistic forecast of their future development efforts.

February 15, 2020 – I released Version 2.1 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition.  This is a minor update which adds some formatting improvements and the “Click for help” button on all interactive worksheets.  Version 3 of the Beta Edition will be released Summer 2020.  Click here to subscribe to my new monthly newsletter and be notified of new Statistical PERT releases.

February 6, 2020 – The Project Management Institute (PMI) published another new article I wrote (“Getting Visual with Uncertainties“) on its sister site, ProjectManagement.comNote:  You must be a PMI member to read this article.  This new article shows how the beta distribution can be used to visually portray project uncertainties, like cost and schedule uncertainty.

February 1, 2020 – Each month this year, I will host a free, one-hour webinar where I demonstrate how to create probabilistic estimates using Statistical PERT.  Visit this site’s Free Webinar! page to see the webinar registration details.  The first webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, February 18 from 12P-1P EST (USA).

January 30, 2020 – The Project Management Institute (PMI) published a new article I wrote (“The Advantages of Probabilistic Estimation“) on its sister site, ProjectManagement.comNote:  You must be a PMI member to read this article.

January 2, 2020 – Released Version 4 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition!  This new version includes a real Monte Carlo simulation tab to use with a single, random variable and a new agile release burn-up chart.  Plus you can use your own, explicit standard deviation (when you are using historical data) and you can choose from 10 subjective judgment options for the most likely outcome (up from just 7 options).  Some other, minor changes, too throughout. Download Version 4 from this site or from GitHub.

December 9, 2019 – I’m working on Version 4 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition, to be released early in 2020.  This new version will include a simple Monte Carlo simulation model, plus more agile-focused features, including a new sprint (iteration) burn-up chart to forecast agile software development.  Want a sneak-peak at the latest version?  Download Version 4 from GitHub.  Note:  Version 4 is under development and has not been fully tested.

September 28, 2019 – I’ve updated the Soothsayer templates to Version 1.1.  This is a minor update which adds 800 additional tasks to the Soothsayer for Project Contingency spreadsheet, and makes some very minor formatting changes to Soothsayer for Project Risk Analysis spreadsheet.  If you’re not familiar with Soothsayer, learn more by reading this whitepaper to discover how using Excel’s binomial distribution functions can help you choose a right-sized schedule and budget contingency for your project.

September 13, 2019Pluralsight has published my newest course, Forecasting for Agile Teams.  In this course, you will create and share forecasts for your agile software development effort. First, you will learn why forecasting is important.  Next, you will discover how to forecast using Microsoft Excel and Statistical PERT, which is available for downloading on this site right here.  Finally, you will explore how to improve your forecasts and effectively share them with stakeholders.  When you’re finished with this course, you will have the skills and knowledge of agile forecasting so you can forecast future agile-developed products.

September 4, 2019 – The PMI Toronto chapter has announced the details for my October 23 live webinar, “Forecast Your Future World.” Join me for this one-hour, live webinar as I demonstrate how to use the built-in statistical functions inside of Microsoft Excel to create forecasts for your projects and products.  PMI Toronto charges a nominal fee ($10) to attend this webinar.  You can learn more and register for the webinar here.

July 28, 2019 – This October 23, join me for a live webinar as I present “Forecast Your Future World” on behalf of my host, the PMI Toronto chapter of the Project Management Institute.  PMI Toronto is the 2nd largest PMI chapter in the world with a very active membership.  This will be a one-hour, non-recorded webinar covering how to create forecasts for agile teams using Statistical PERT.  Webinar registration details will be available in the coming weeks.

July 16, 2019 – I wrote and published a new LinkedIn article, entitled “The Küsters Estimation Problem,” which offers a forecasting approach using Statistical PERT Beta Edition Version 2.  I wrote my article on the same day that popular LinkedIn “Thought Provoker,” Michael Küsters, wrote this blog article on his personal blog.  Michael has great insights on many agile-related topics — highly recommended!

July 13, 2019 – I released a big upgrade to Statistical PERT Beta Edition Version 2! The Version 2 upgrade adds the same data visualization features as what the SPERT Normal Edition has:  tri-colored combo charts to show the beta distribution’s bell-curve, plus row-level line Sparklines to show the bell-curve for each row, and an all-new Agile Forecast tab to calculate agile release/delivery dates.  There are some minor formatting updates, too.  Download the latest Version 2 of Statistical PERT Beta Edition from this site or from GitHub.  Also, Statistical PERT Normal Edition bumped up to version 3.0.3 for some very minor format updates.

July 9, 2019 – I released another very minor update to Statistical PERT Normal Edition Version 3. The version 3.0.2 update does a little formatting to some worksheets and replaces the footer link to the GNU GPL webpage so it uses HTTPS instead of HTTP.

July 1, 2019 – I released minor updates to my two Soothsayer™ spreadsheets.  Version 1.0.2 simply adds the full text of the GNU General Public License to both Soothsayer for Risk Analysis and Soothsayer for Project Contingency.  Also, I created a new GitHub repository for Soothsayer to manage future changes to these spreadsheets.  Download the latest version of Soothsayer either from GitHub or navigate to this site’s FREE Downloads page and look for the Soothsayer bonus download links on the right-side of that page.

June 30, 2019 – I released a minor update to Statistical PERT Normal Edition Version 3.  The Version 3.0.1 update simply adds the full text of the GNU General Public License (Version 3) and updates the worksheet footers to expressly require that all verbatim and modified copies of Statistical PERT spreadsheets retain the copyright notice, including the author’s name, copyright year, and that the spreadsheet is licensed under the GNU GPL.  The forthcoming new Beta Edition Version 2 will contain the same updates when I release SPERT Version 2 later this summer.  You can get a sneak peak of Beta Edition Version 2 by visiting GitHub and downloading from the version_2 branch of the spert-beta repository.

June 26, 2019 – I have begun working on Version 2 of Statistical PERT Beta Edition!  Version 2 will give the Beta Edition the same data visualization features as Version 3 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition (that is, line Sparklines for each row, plus tri-colored bell-shaped curves for summary combo charts).  If you’d like to follow this development and try-out the new features as I add them, you can download Version 2 from GitHub using the version_2 branch of the spert-beta repository.

June 23, 2019 – To increase awareness and public adoption of Statistical PERT, I’ve created two public repositories on GitHub.  Using GitHub will provide greater transparency to the ongoing development plans for Statistical PERT.  The spert-normal repository will maintain the latest version of Statistical PERT Normal Edition, while the spert-beta repository will maintain the latest version of Statistical PERT Beta Edition.

Moreover, I’ve created two public projects on GitHub, too, which will show anyone who’s interested what my development plans are for enhancing both editions of Statistical PERT.  The SPERT Normal Edition Development project will show you future and in-progress enhancements for SPERT Normal Edition, while the SPERT Beta Edition Development project will show you future and in-progress enhancements for SPERT Beta Edition.  I haven’t populated these two projects with enhancement ideas just yet, but I will in the weeks to come, especially as I work on Version 2 of Statistical PERT Beta Edition this summer.

If you’d like to participate in the development of Statistical PERT, please contact me!

May 13, 2019 – Last week, Anne Johnson, PMP, from the United States Census Bureau presented at the University of Maryland’s Project Management Symposium 2019.  Her presentation, “Capturing Costs & Value of Research Products” included a brief explanation of how the U.S. Census Bureau uses Statistical PERT to estimate project costs.  Using Statistical PERT inside their 8-step process, the U.S. Census Bureau has reduced the number of projects that are over-budget by creating better, more reliable cost estimates up-front.  Download and read the full whitepaper.

April 29, 2019 – Today I had the privilege of guest lecturing to students enrolled in the same graduate degree program I completed in 2014:  the Master of Science in Project Management (MSPM) from The George Washington University’s School of Business.  I lectured on how students can easily use Statistical PERT to create task estimates with the same probability of success, which is a necessary pre-condition to use the Unified Scheduling Method, a technique developed by GWU’s own professorship, Dr. Homoyoun Khamooshi and Dr. Denis Cioffi.

March 19, 2019 – Released a minor update to Statistical PERT Beta Edition (Version 1.2).  This minor update replaces the link to my old Pluralsight course and points learners to my new course, Easily Estimate Projects and Products.  The footer license and no-warranty claim also had minor updates, too.  I’ll begin working on the full version upgrade of the Beta Edition in the next couple of months.  Beta Edition Version 2 will receive the same data visualization features as what the Normal Edition Version 3 just received.

March 16, 2019 – This week, Pluralsight published a brand-new course, Easily Estimate Projects and Products, which introduces and demonstrates Statistical PERT Normal Edition Version 3.  This course offers the most complete way to understand how Statistical PERT works, how to use it to solve practical estimation problems, and how to modify the template to better suit your estimation (forecasting) needs.  Watching the course also helps to defray the cost of this website, so I encourage you to watch the course!

March 10, 2019 – Today I released the brand-new, Version 3 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition! Version 3 includes new data visualization features to help see the uncertainty of your estimates. Version 3 includes row-level Sparklines to visualize the uncertainty of a single, 3-point estimate, plus new, tri-colored combo charts to see the uncertainty at an aggregate level. Moreover, Version 3 includes side-by-side comparison of up to three scenarios in the Agile Forecast tab, and Version 3 includes a new, “Super Simple SPERT” tab for easy, beginner-level forecasting. The Beta Edition of Statistical PERT will receive the same data visualization upgrade by late summer 2019.

November 18, 2018 – I released a new, minor upgrade to Statistical PERT Normal Edition.  Version 2.4 makes a small change to the Agile Forecast tab so the confidence probability associated with the agile release date better aligns with a Monte Carlo simulation (using SPERT’s “Medium Confidence” in the Most Likely outcome).  All Statistical PERT results are routinely compared with Palisade’s @Risk Monte Carlo simulation plugin to assure users of Statistical PERT’s accuracy.

October 26, 2018 – I have struck an agreement with Pluralsight, a leading producer of online training videos for IT and creative professionals, to create a brand-new training course that will replace my now-dated, 2015 course that first introduced people to Statistical PERT.  My new, shorter, 2-hour Pluralsight course will be called, Easily Estimate Projects and Products. In this course, I will show how to create estimates and forecasts using the forthcoming Version 3 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition.  My new Pluralsight course and the new version of Statistical PERT Normal Edition are both targeted for a January, 2019 release!

October 21, 2018 – In anticipation of new Version 3 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition (January 2019), I updated SPERT® Mobile to a new Version 2a.  This is an early-release version.  It includes a new cell containing a line Sparkline that shows the implied, bell-shaped, normal distribution curve.  Adding Sparklines to SPERT will be part of the new, visual elements that will be part of both editions (Normal and Beta) of Statistical PERT in 2019.  Note:  You must have Excel® Mobile installed in your smartphone to make use of SPERT Mobile.  Download SPERT® Mobile Version 2a now!  It’s one of the “Bonus” downloads available on this site.

October 9, 2018 – I’m preparing a new Version 3 of Statistical PERT Normal Edition with an expected release of January, 2019.  Version 3 will have new visual features that show the implied, bell-shaped curve for every row with a valid, 3-point estimate.  Version 3 will also include a new bar chart showing the bell-shaped, normal distribution curve for the summary row for all 3-point estimates combined.  You can download a preview of this new release by going to this site’s Beta Blog and going to that site’s Download page.

October 3, 2018 – I’m heading out to Los Angeles this week for the biggest event of the year for project managers:  the PMI Global Conference 2018.  I’ll be presenting a team-building and training framework in this presentation: Collabinart: Build Team Collaboration Through Interpretive Art.  If you’re attending this event, contact me and let’s meet up!

September 22, 2018 – I’ve published a new, minor release of Statistical PERT Normal Edition (version 2.3) which includes a new, experimental worksheet for creating a release forecast for agile teams based upon story points, user stories or features.  Agile forecasting will be a major development emphasis for Statistical PERT in 2019 and beyond.  If you use this new worksheet for creating release forecasts for your agile team, please contact me — I’d love to learn how well Statistical PERT satisfies your agile release forecasting needs.

May 1, 2018 – I will be presenting at two upcoming Project Management Institute (PMI) events this year.  Locally, I will be presenting “Collabinart” — a collaboration activity using famous, painted artwork — at the PMI South Florida Chapter’s premier event, Professional Development Day, on June 15.  Then, this fall, I will present “Collabinart” at the 2018 PMI Global Conference in Los Angeles.  The PMI Global Conference runs from October 6 – 8. As these dates draw nearer, I will post more details on my presentation here on this website.  If you’re planning to attend either event, be sure to let me know so I can meet and greet you!

March 1, 2018 – I’m beginning a new initiative to adapt Statistical PERT to better fit the needs of agile teams who need to create release forecasts for their products.  When I created Statistical PERT in 2014, my goal was (and is) to create simple, free, easy-to-use estimation tools that enable people to make probabilistic estimates for uncertain future outcomes.  Read more about this on the Beta Blog and download a development-only build of Statistical PERT geared specifically for the needs of agile teams.

February 20, 2018 – I will present “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting” at the Palm Beach State College’s Math Awareness Week at the Lake Worth, FL campus. Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month is a program of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) – a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.  I’ll present to PBSC’s students on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 (time TBD).

August 12, 2017 – To register for my upcoming webinar with PMI-Toronto (“Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting”), visit PMI Toronto’s event page and register.  The cost is only $10 for PMI-Toronto members, and $20 for non-members.  You can download my UMD whitepaper, “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting.”  The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, 2017, from 8P – 9P (EDT).

July 7, 2017 – “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting” is the webinar presentation I will give on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, from 8P – 9P (EDT) for the Project Management Institute Southern Ontario Chapter (PMI-SOC), which is the second largest PMI chapter in the world, serving more than 5,000 members in the Greater Toronto Area.  This presentation was well-received at the PMI South Florida Professional Development Day in May, and at the University of Maryland (UMD) Project Symposium in March.  You can download my UMD whitepaper, “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting.”  Webinar details will be released by PMI-SOC in the coming weeks!

June 10, 2017 – “Protect Your Project Schedule Using the Unified Scheduling” is the presentation I will give on Sunday, June 11, 2017, at the AACE International‘s 2017 Annual Meeting.  Learn how to Soothsay your project schedule and budget using the Unified Scheduling Method (USM).  USM uses the binomial distribution functions of Microsoft Excel to create a right-sized schedule and budget contingency.

May 28, 2017 – “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting” is the presentation I will give on Friday, June 9, 2017, at South Florida’s premier event for project professionals, the PMI South Florida Chapter‘s Professional Development Day!  Learn the difference between predicting and forecasting future uncertainties, and why it’s better to forecast than predict the future.  Can’t attend my presentation that day?  You can still download my whitepaper that I wrote for the University of Maryland’s 2017 Project Management Symposium: “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting.”

March 28, 2017 – “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting” is the presentation I will give on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at the University of Maryland’s 2017 Project Management Symposium in College Park, Maryland.  This presentation will explore the difference between predicting and forecasting uncertain, future outcomes.  We’ll examine why meteorologists are called “weather forecasters” (not “weather predictors”) and see how project managers can, like meteorologists, better align stakeholder expectations and improve decision-making through forecasting.  UMD’s Project Management Symposium is the premier project management event in the Washington DC metro area, and brings presenters and attendees together for a two-day symposium exploring project management topics in five different tracks, including Agile/IT and Integrated Program Management.  If you can’t attend this UMD’s Symposium, you can still download and read my Symposium whitepaper, “Stop Predicting, Start Forecasting.”

March 24, 2017Read a whitepaper on Soothsayer™.  Soothsayer is a freely-licensed, Excel-based, probabilistic, estimation technique for creating a dynamic, right-sized, contingency reserve for either schedule or cost.  Use Soothsayer to develop a project contingency for risks when doing risk analysis, or to add a right-sized buffer in a project schedule or budget based upon the reliability of each task duration or cost estimate.  AACE® International will publish this whitepaper in its Transactions for the 2017 AACE® International Annual Meeting, held this year in Orlando, Florida.  After reading the whitepaper, try downloading and using Soothsayer™ for Project Risk Analysis.

March 1, 2017 – Released Version 1 for Statistical PERT® Beta Edition (and Version 2.2 of Statistical PERT® Normal Edition).  The Beta Edition release is the first production release of Statistical PERT that uses Microsoft Excel’s two beta distribution functions, BETA.DIST and BETA.INV.  The beta distribution can model a wide range of bell-shaped uncertainties, even if they are severely skewed, making the Beta Edition the most flexible way to model project uncertainties.  The new Version 2.2 of the Normal Edition adds a new Beginners tab that makes it even easier to understand and use Statistical PERT.  Read the press release that announces Version 1 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition.

February 8, 2017 – Released Version 2.1 for Statistical PERT® Normal Edition (and Release Candidate 1 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition).  This version includes a new “SPERT® Normal (Mixed entry)” worksheet that allows for manually-entered 3-point estimates plus global and individual heuristics for generating minimum and maximum point-estimates.  This offers estimators the greatest amount of flexibility for creating 3-point estimates.  Use global heuristics to generate minimum and maximum point-estimates, or override the global heuristic for any row with either manually-entered, minimum and/or maximum values, or select a row-specific percentage adjustment to the Most Likely outcome to create a unique minimum and/or maximum point-estimates.

January 12, 2017 – Released minor version 2.0.2 to Statistical PERT® Normal Edition (and 0.6 Build 3 of Statistical PERT® Beta Edition).  Later in 1Q 2017, a new version will include a new “SPERT® Normal (Mixed entry)” worksheet that will allow for both manually-entered 3-point estimates and both global and individual heuristics for generating minimum and maximum point-estimates.

January 6, 2017Project Summit / Business Analyst World Conference in Dallas
Learn about Agile Transformation, Risk Analysis, and Statistical PERT at the upcoming Project Summit / Business Analysis World conference coming to Dallas, February 6 and 7, 2017. On Monday, February 6, I will present, ‘Start an Agile Transformation (When You’re Not Sitting in the C-Suite).’ And on Tuesday, February 7, I will present, ‘Protect Your Project by Soothsaying the Risk Register.’ Along the way, I’ll be sharing Statistical PERT with conference attendees, too. Join me – now just one month away!

January 4, 2017 – SPERT® Mobile for Excel® Mobile, Version 1.0.1 Released
SPERT® Mobile is a special adaptation of Statistical PERT for smartphone and tablet users.  SPERT® Mobile uses the normal distribution functions of Excel to easily make probabilistic estimates.  This specially-sized Excel template displays great on smaller screen sizes.  This minor update adds a little better formatting and cell editing.

January 2, 2017 – Statistical PERT® Normal Edition, Version 2 Released
The newest version of Statistical PERT lets you easily make probabilistic estimates using just a single value (most likely) estimate for any uncertainty with bell-shaped risk properties, like:  task duration, work effort, expenses, revenue, agile story points, project portfolios, event attendance and more.  Improved formatting lets you choose whether to see the left-side or right-side area under the bell-curve.  This new version is now branded as the “Normal Edition” of Statistical PERT, indicating that it uses Excel’s two normal distribution functions, NORM.DIST and NORM.INV, and to distinguish it from the Beta Edition.  A new development version of the Beta Edition, which uses Excel’s two beta distribution functions, BETA.DIST and BETA.INV, is also available.

December 23, 2016What’s New in Version 2, SPERT Comparison with RiskPERT
Want to know what’s new in the upcoming Version 2 release of Statistical PERT – Normal Edition?  Check out this blog post.  Want to see how Statistical PERT compares with Palisade’s @Risk risk analysis tool?  Read this blog post.  Statistical PERT – Normal Edition Version 2 and Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Version 0.6 will both be released on Monday, January 2, 2017.

December 19, 2016 – PMBA Conference in Dallas – February 2017
Learn about Agile Transformation, Risk Analysis, and Statistical PERT at the upcoming Project Summit / Business Analysis World conference coming to Dallas, February 6 and 7, 2017. On Monday, February 6, I will present, ‘Start an Agile Transformation (When You’re Not Sitting in the C-Suite).’ And on Tuesday, February 7, I will present, ‘Protect Your Project by Soothsaying the Risk Register.’ Along the way, I’ll be sharing Statistical PERT with conference attendees, too. Join me!

December 12, 2016 – Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Version 0.5 Build 1 released! This is a development build of the next edition of Statistical PERT using the beta distribution.  The initial production release of the Statistical PERT – Beta Edition should be available in early 2017.  The December build hides columns and makes formatting changes to prepare for the production release next year.  Download SPERT-Beta Version 0.5 Build 1 now!

Also, Statistical PERT – Normal Edition, Version 2.0 is announced, and it, too, will be available for downloading in early 2017. Read about all these exciting changes for Statistical PERT here.

November 5, 2016 – Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Version 0.4 Build 2 released! This is a development build of the next edition of Statistical PERT using the beta distribution.  The initial production release of the Statistical PERT – Beta Edition should be available in early 2017.  The November build adds a pie chart to show the user-specified confidence interval, and the same data validation for the three-point estimate as used in the latest release of the Statistical PERT – Normal Edition.  Download SPERT-Beta Version 0.4 Build 2 now!

October 23, 2016Statistical PERT is on Twitter!
If you want to keep informed about the latest updates and new releases of Statistical PERT, including the 2017 release of Statistical PERT – Beta Edition, follow this website on Twitter (@statisticalpert).  The Statistical PERT website doesn’t require you to share any personal information, register, or create an account before downloading any of the Statistical PERT Excel templates and example workbooks.  So, if you want to stay informed about future changes to Statistical PERT, just follow Statistical PERT on Twitter.

October 12, 2016 – Palisade’s 2016 Risk Conference in New Orleans
I’ll be attending Palisade’s biggest risk management event of the year in New Orleans, November 1 & 2.  Statistical PERT’s development was greatly helped by comparing its results with Monte Carlo simulations using Palisade’s Excel add-in program, @Risk7.  If you’re attending this event, contact me and let’s connect!

October 11, 2016New Statistical PERT YouTube channel, 1st video published
Today is launch-day for the Statistical PERT YouTube channel!  The first, 16-minute video answers the question, “Why Use Statistical PERT?”  Look for more videos soon to learn much more Statistical PERT and how to create probabilistic estimates and forecasts for your projects.

October 10, 2016Interview with popular PM blogger, Elizabeth Harrin published
Elizabeth publishes a popular blog entitled, A Girl’s Guide to Project Management.  Elizabeth has been blogging about project management topics for many years, and her visually appealing blog is one of the best I’ve seen, as is her content and writing style.  Oh, and despite its name, the site is perfectly suited for male project managers, too.  😉

October 7, 2016 – Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Version 0.3 Build 2 released! This is a development build of the next edition of Statistical PERT using the beta distribution.  The initial production release of the Statistical PERT – Beta Edition should be available in early 2017.  Download SPERT-Beta Version 0.3 Build 2 now!

October 4, 2016Version 1.4 Released!  This new version makes it easy to create probabilistic confidence intervals for easier range forecasting.  And new pie charts show, visually, what uncertainty looks like.  Try downloading a template today!  Click here to learn more about Version 1.4.

September 20, 2016SPERT comes to the 2016 PMI Global Congress – North America!  The 2016 PMI Global Congress is less than a week away! Spend part of your conference day learning when, why and how to use Statistical PERT on your projects by attending a 90-minute presentation, Easily Estimate Projects Using Statistical PERT, on Monday, September 26, 2016, from 3:15PM – 4:45PM.  Download the PMI whitepaper and presentation here.

September 16, 2016Download all SPERT files securely!  Starting today, all connections to this site will use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to encrypt your connection.  Whether you’re browsing or downloading, you’ll enjoy the utmost in privacy and confidence when you use the Statistical PERT website!

September 12, 2016SPERT™ Mobile is released!
This is special version of Statistical PERT for mobile device users.  This simplified SPERT spreadsheet puts the ease and power of Statistical PERT estimation into your hands, wherever you go.  The spreadsheet format lets mobile iPhone and Android users easily see and interact with a simple SPERT spreadsheet.  To use this special version of Statistical PERT on your smartphone, you must install Excel Mobile on your mobile device.  Visit the iTunes store or Google Play to download a free copy of Excel Mobile.

September 10, 2016Statistical PERT Version 1.3 for Estimating Tasks is released!
This version offers a new way to specify a confidence interval for all tasks, and see a pie chart of the resulting confidence interval.  Also, there is a Quick Start PDF download available to quickly learn how to use and modify any Statistical PERT spreadsheet.

September 5, 2016 – Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Version 0.2 Build 5 released! This is a development build of the next edition of Statistical PERT using the beta distribution.  The initial production release of the Statistical PERT – Beta Edition should be available in early 2017.  Download SPERT-Beta Version 0.2 Build 5 now!

August 29, 2016“Soothsay Your Risk Register” on ProjectManagement.com

August 22, 2016“Risk Management Starts Sooner Than You Think” on ProjectManagement.com

July 29, 2016 – Check out my Statistical PERT presentation details at the 2016 PMI Global Congress – North America

June 16, 2016 – The AACE Int’l Annual Meeting is days away!  Visit me there to learn about Statistical PERT!

June 4, 2016 – Attend my seminar on Statistical PERT at the 2016 PMI Global Congress – North America!

April 30, 2016 – See Statistical PERT in action at the 2016 AACE Annual Meeting in Toronto this June

February 20, 2016 – See Statistical PERT in action at the 2016 Restoration Industry Association conference

October 26, 2015“Evaluating Benefits:  Get Statistical (Part 3)” on ProjectManagement.com

October 19, 2015“Evaluating Benefits:  Get Statistical (Part 2)” on ProjectManagement.com

October 12, 2015“Evaluating Benefits:  Get Statistical (Part 1)” on ProjectManagement.com

October 6, 2015New Statistical PERT template released for annual portfolio planning

October 2, 2015 – Statistical PERT example workbooks and templates are compatible with Excel 2016

September 15, 2015“Introducing Statistical PERT” on ProjectManagement.com

September 14, 2015Statistical PERT – Beta Edition Announcement

September 9, 2015“How Statistical PERT Gives Programmers Confident Estimates” on Pluralsight’s Blog

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