Estimating Documentation Projects What are Your Hours per Page?
If you’re not already doing it, start logging your hours. Even if the metrics aren’t critical for your position, it’s an eye-opener to see how long it takes to do projects. The numbers you come up with can also be great lobbying material for getting help. I log time in fifteen minute increments.
It’s important to determine your own metrics, since every individual, and every individual within a corporation, will have different metrics. If you have not yet tracked your time on a job, a popular estimate is five hours per page. These five hours include:
- Research time
- Time to interview Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
- Editing time
- Project management time
- Writing time
- Minor editing of screen captures and graphics