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 Activity Logs  Prioritised To-Do Lists
How to estimate time taken to achieve a projectIt is always difficult to estimate the length of time that a task will take, particularly if it is not a task that has been carried out before. It is quite normal for the time taken for completion of a project to be seriously underestimated as the influence of the unexpected or unscheduled high priority work is forgotten.This section firstly covers unpredictable events that may be factored into your estimates, and then looks at formal methods of estimating time taken to achieve complex projects. Taking unpredictable events into accountWhen you have to guess time, and particularly when you are likely to be held to a time estimate, ensure that you allow time for:- Other high urgency tasks to be carried out which have priority over this one.
- Accidents and emergencies
- Meetings
- Holidays and sickness in essential staff
- Contact with other customers, perhaps to arrange the next job
- Break downs in equipment
- Let downs from suppliers
- Interruptions
- Quality control rejections
- etc.
If the accuracy of time estimates is critical, you may find it effective to develop a systematic approach to including these factors. Typically this would be based on past experience.Estimating time taken on complex projectsWhere you need to carry out a complex project in which resources are limited or performance of one task is dependent on completion of another task, then techniques such as Critical Path Analysis can be useful. Time estimates for each stage should allow for unpredictable events as described above. |
