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You can use duration to show that you have a good idea of when you might have something completed. Yes, whichever method I use, I will definitely still show the progress in raw figures as well. So he'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. If you are asking for something and you need it by a specific date, be crystal clear. Software Engineering Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle. Instead, you can convey your estimate, and give a degree of accuracy to your estimate. Has Microsoft lowered its Windows 11 eligibility criteria? You want to go to a new restaurant, but you have to make a reservation. How to break the cycle of being a "load bearing employee" because of no time to cross-train others because of constant deadlines? Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. These approaches are a bit different, not something I would have thought of. Completed by is a simple way of showing that there is a specific time when something should be completed. Is variance swap long volatility of volatility? No matter how conscious you are of all these things, sometimes your "programmer's pride" makes you give/accept shorter times than you originally suppose it might take. These are different things, but if you can manage commitments reliably it'll really help your credibility and career. We will identify factors that lead to project success, and learn how to plan, analyze, and manage projects. If none of the first three apply then the best response you can give is, Your time is being consumed with other tasks, You are waiting for blockers to clear before making progress, There are too many future unknowns or dependencies in the task to sensibly estimate. You usually can't get away with being clever and saying "It will be done whenever it will be done" no matter how you frame it. Sometimes (or actually always, because of Murphy's law) you will get asked for an estimate while you are still working that out. ", This. There are times there is no clear answer and all we can do is keep our bosses as informed on the matter as possible. In general, honesty is best, be upfront about it, and keep him in the loop. Target time is a good one because it refers to an estimate. by accurate I mean that a stakeholder holds you accountable for. If we hurry it up anymore, were going to lose a lot of quality work! "That depends, what does it need to do?" Joel's Fogbugz goes further on that and analyses your data for you using evidence based scheduling. A common issue is that a neighbors tree may encroach onto your property. Im sorry its not quicker! Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? Start by trying to get that deadline in writing: (Boss), thank you for letting me know about that project that is coming up. Based on comments on other answers, it appears that your problem is not time estimating but communicating delays based on changing priorities. But if you slip into the 180th or 210th day, not so much. Make it broad. And then ask yourself: which project does that sound similar to in scope? We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Its a very confident phrase, so you need to make sure that you can be certain that its achievable. Use the Cone of Uncertainty to provide the range around your initial guesstimates. How to find list of possible words from a letter matrix [Boggle Solver]. - adam. How can I make a boss (or colleague) be more careful when estimating the complexity of a task/project? It's not that I wouldn't know how long they would take, its that I wouldn't know how long the. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Track the time necessary for each aspect of the task and record the data. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Make them sit down, read, and agree to your assumptions (or, if you're lucky, get them to give in and give you real requirements). I've read some books that say a range of -50% to +100% is good but it depends on many factors. There is a blog entry that outlines how to keep a record of how accurate your previous estimations have gone, and then next time you say to someone "it'll be two weeks", you can look at your previous history and see how long it actually took last time you said "it'll be two weeks". (Are you the same Kyralessa from the joel on software boards?). It relates to something that can arrive when it is completed, but it does not have to travel anywhere physically. Option 1: Assign both users and estimated hours to a task at the same time. More interesting ideas here that I wouldn't have thought of. This technique is certainly more challenging if doing the entire project or not depends on the overall estimate. Other words: Start date, end date. Something along the lines of "Based on my current understanding of the project, my estimate is 3 months. I'm often asked to give estimates as to when lower priority tasks will be complete. But when your back's against the wall and they refuse to give you better details, Fake It: The problem with giving a single number or a narrow range is that it paints you into a corner by setting expectations before any real analysis is done. Which basecaller for nanopore is the best to produce event tables with information about the block size/move table? One way would be to put: Requesting Status Update (on the subject line) and write something similar to: As discussed, I am waiting for ________(name of project) which has a deadline of ________ and I would like to know, as of immediately, the status and your expected date of completion.. rev2023.3.1.43269. Thankfully I knew I didn't have a proper grasp on the time requirement going in. Whats the ETC were looking at here? You have other things to do from past assignments and you will have to An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Every week calculate how much is left to do, re-estimate based on what you know. How to accurately measure estimate without design as a Front End developer in agile? It's a weather forecast. let me know that they need to assess the situation and come up with a solution. - Next Wednesday around 4pm. We, as programmers, are constantly being asked 'How long will it take'? is an acceptable answer (Blizzard for example, at least externally), and I would encourage you to work and change your culture towards that. Here are some examples and suggested phrases you can use. Saying "5 to 6 months" is different than saying "150 days". Start treating them with respect and respecting their needs. It's okay you think, you'll work over 100+ hours a week, unpaid overtime. This is quite a hefty completion time! If you track tasks and time already it shouldn't be hard, but even if you don't just keep a notepad, and every time you finish a task write down the priority level and how many hours you spent on it. End time is a confident phrase like completion time. Its a good way of showing that something will come to an end at a specific moment. The whole point is the stakeholders aren't sure if it is even worth doing the project - which is why they need the numbers for the business case. total completion time. Whats the time frame right now? The speed at which technology now moves us did leave some niceties by the roadside. Some great suggestions here on all answers. How do you get your contractor to respond with a deadline? Weight the first method more if the copy has a fairly consistent long-term average speed, even if it jumps around a bit locally. Could very old employee stock options still be accessible and viable? For example: Where factor is such that factor([0..1]) = [0..1], factor(x) <= x and factor(1) = 1. I did extremely detailed examination of the tasks. This value is refined after each transfer. Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? The screenshot below shows a dispatcher's view of service professionals' live status. Any idea how do you estimate such timing on the spot? Make assumptions to fill in the gaps based on your best guess of what they want. Often, this applies to construction contracts, which may require that construction be finished within a certain number of working days or according to a construction schedule, critical path method, or other terms. tl;dr: I want to predict file copy completion. Does Cast a Spell make you a spellcaster? If the requirements are clear, you can estimate with a 20% error margin. Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby? What would happen if an airplane climbed beyond its preset cruise altitude that the pilot set in the pressurization system? Use tools such as Business Requirements Analysis, Work Breakdown Structures, Gap Analysis, and Drill-Down to do this in sufficient detail. A recent study from the University of Connecticut found that . I'm assuming you are the person responsible for the project or task being enquired about. A wide range tells the recipient of the estimate "Software projects are naturally complex and risky - if you want a proper estimate you need to give me more details and more time". What are some good approaches to predicting the completion time of a long process? We dont have a lot of wiggle room here, so we need it to be quick. A bit late but when I was in the military we were instructed to use PERT to determine estimates. Modified 4 years, 6 months ago. Also, trust between you and your contractor should be better. Theyre causing too much trouble on the back-end. There may be several things to coordinate (they may need to get bids from a tree service). In either case, on-going communication is key. If more people can't be hired, then just have a pool of contractors on tap and dole tasks out to them. Its largely about your approach, as you can see, above. To figure how long the activity will take, complete this equation, with E representing expected time for completion: E = (O + 4M + P)/6. As a freelance consultant, she also supports companies and executives in overcoming communication challenges. Once you provide your estimates (no matter how they are derived), keep your stakeholders in the loop if anything happens that will change your estimate - particularly as deadlines loom. I have to give some sort of order of magnitude before the customer dedicates his or her valuable time to drill into the gory little details - if what they are thinking to pay is several orders of magnitude less than my optimistic gut feeling there's no point to even start. All that will do is irritate your manager and make you look incompetent. If you want to go, please let me know by 4:00 p.m. Hope you can make it! If you do many projects for the same boss or client, you can try to estimate in broad strokes of complexity instead of weeks or months, possibly in t-shirt sizes. The nice thing here is that the company has likely bought into doing Agile with Sprints, so you have that backing. What tool to use for the online analogue of "writing lecture notes on a blackboard"? For the last semester of your degree, you need to do an internship. doesn't always mean "Hurry up." Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. How to respond when you are asked for an estimate? Not the developer's he has no role in determining priorities. Would I be able to get an answer by next Tuesday?, Asking for deadlines shouldnt be painful. We're often asked for an "ballpark estimate" during meetings where we're given very broad and vauge ideas of what they'd like to do. Do you think thats going to be enough time to get everything together? Do you need extra help? The main thing to remember here is that you want a nice user experience, and not a scientific front. How Do You Ask For Contact Details In An Email? This is kind of confusing to show in a GUI, but okay to show in a command line app. You need a baseline. And I was glad to get experience in estimating, which I'd always been terrible at. But it does." Manage Settings 542), How Intuit democratizes AI development across teams through reusability, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. Or perhaps: No, unless this other task can be discarded (permanently). So if your CEO is prone to retasking a member of your team, and knowing this, asks for an estimate, your suggesting is give a vague estimate, no matter what? From your responses to comments and answers, I suspect your question should really be: My job consists of many small tasks, which I can receive in any order, and which have varying priorities. I don't expect that they could be made non-aggressive. @ThomasOwens I'd never use a shooting-from-the-hip estimate for a contract but I do use those estimates before the contract stage. Tell them that they can talk to the manager if they disagree with the current priorities. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. I also always write my assumptions and preconditions. Not recommended. Low priority tasks, if not done within N weeks, move up to the next priority level. can make people more receptive to your ideas. And try to recognize that if my answer is "Two weeks! You need to complete this to graduate. Read more about Martin here. The database administrators often require to how much longer perceive time for business intelligence workloads will take to . 37 Plus years in the industry Whats the point in having a completion time like this if youre not going to stick to it? Let them go fight out the priorities with the managers. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. For example: No shooting from the hip. What do 'real', 'user' and 'sys' mean in the output of time(1)? So when my boss would ask in the standup (we work with Agile development) I would give him my best estimate and explain why I thought that. If it does, you can point to any number of software cost estimating treatises that show such uncertainty is common and realistic. Record information about the problem you are estimating, your estimate, and the actual values. That's bad advice, and a poor approach to these things. Calculate the estimate based on your model. Ring a bell? The principal advantage of using the Kalman filter rather than a fixed n-second sliding window is that it's adaptive: it will automatically use a longer averaging window when measurements jump around a lot than when they're stable. When you are asked to estimate due dates, is there a especially polite or clever way of say it is "Done when it is done" ? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Or to specific risks? The Workplace Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for members of the workforce navigating the professional setting. If you have 6 projects lined up already, you simply refuse more. You can abbreviate it to 'complete date' if you like. How Do You Say Politely I Am Waiting For Your Reply? Apr 4, 2018 at 15:11. . Model the system. Just make sure you keep me updated with everything here. You cannot simply say: I don't know. Lastly, your second idea (average over the last n seconds) attempts to measure the instantaneous speed. Being on good terms with your neighbors is important, but sometimes it can be difficult. In any event, "whenever' is not an acceptable answer. How can I deal with this situation? Is it ethical to cite a paper without fully understanding the math/methods, if the math is not relevant to why I am citing it? What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? all the implications. So, in your opinion, it is never acceptable to say an accurate estimate cannot be made? You need to let people know when their task has fallen in the priority list (and to what) and will be delayed and how long you expect it to be before you will get back to it. Other than statistics approach, one simple way to have a good estimation of the current speed while erasing some noise or spikes is to take a weighted approach. @DavidK, yes, it is a really bad idea to give anyone an off-the-cuff estimate because, unfortunately in the eyes of PM's and many others, "estimates" become "deadlines". What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? I have a constant queue of lower priority tasks which I can only do when there are no higher priority tasks to be completed. Use a three-point estimation. Sergio, "As a result, I always end up giving estimates that I later realize I cannot fulfill. You have had no time to analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders, validate assumptions. It does require some experience in your field and the task at hand. You have to estimate the time of completion considering the best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, and . As such, this stops your manager from planning out the bigger picture. An added bonus was their respectful and positive personalities. Specially when you feel the pressure Example: When is the completion date for room 3 curtains and trimmings? I dont think thats going to work at all! "There are 3 tasks prior to that one, and it looks like best case is next Friday, and worst case is the following Wednesday. So if its vitally important to you, make HUMAN contact. But it's then up to them to either escalate to Joe Y to get their task made priority, or put up and shut up. How do you get your contractor to respond with a deadline? "I don't know. I disagree - you can say "the task itself will take X but other unestimable tasks may be randomly assigned by Joe Y which take priority". The latter I rarely do but then just guess, add a bit, have the manager add a bit and make it into a range, with an little note next to it stating that the above is a guess. Decompose this model and build estimates from the components. A more robust technique for this might be to use the Kalman filter, whose purpose is exactly this: Its purpose is to use measurements observed over time, containing And when payroll makes a mistake and under pays you, do you consider this an acceptable response when you ask when it will be corrected? I asked you to have it done and on my desk. How detailed is the estimate you show your customers? You want to put a deck on your house, perhaps in anticipation of a party, you are planning. They may also be worried about hurting your feelings or coming off as being confrontational. Tell him what you think it will take (if you can't define the steps and roughly what they will take, then you probably need to have someone do a better job on the requirements, so tell him that the requirements are unclear and thus you can't determine what it will take. Often the person asking wants to know so that they can plan. That is something that you should never say. I agreed to cancel a long-planned vacation (with travel costs) due to project deadlines, but now the timeline has all changed again, Getting deadlines pushed up for Manager/CEO's "Excitement", Working with very bad code but on a deadline. Estimate total completion time is required when workload is executed as a batch of queries. How can I avoid providing a deadline to others who insist on it? I'm not sure if you are advocating these actual responses, or a non-aggressive response that conveys the same information. This is your responsibility to factor in unless you expect others to have the expertise about this area. Having said that, "When will you be done?" All these are legitimate reasons for not having a good estimate, but they are also problems you need to be proactively raising with your manager (or in the first case, you could get an acknowledgement from them that the task can slip to allow for higher priority stuff). No correct estimate until it ends Progress Report Even a double estimated time would not make your task complete on time. Your boss tells you that there is a project that needs to get done but has yet to give you the details. After calculating E and V for each activity, add up the Es, and you have an accurate time estimate for project completion. Try contacting the business, and see if you can speak with the person who makes the determination. of deadlines and management expectations. Duration gives you an idea of how long something will take. Statistical Learning by Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman. It's not as common as ETA, so it's probably best that you don't use it often. Saying that and nothing else lands you in severe danger of being considered uncooperative. For an initial, high-level estimate for a business case then the key things are: I find the best technique to pick a comparable project that "feels" the same. Method 1. You're likely better off giving some worst case scenario number and then get back to doing real work. Too often, people feel pressured and make the mistake of over-promising. [1] Further, even . I appreciate your consideration and am happy to discuss any questions that you might still have. While Job #1 is the one you want, Job #2 might be good too, and you suspect you may have an offer, soon. I appreciate how patient youve been. lower and upper bound). Your new game-changing quick reference tool is just a click away. Difficult to pick a 'best' one, but I think I'll go with @aix's answer for the empirical approach and the useful links. But I would not display only an estimation. "programmer's pride" makes you give/accept shorter times than you "I'm not sure, when are you going to get me X?" I dont mind an estimate, but I dont like the three-hour disparity between your numbers. Whatever method you use it needs to be quick. Can't refuse more, they simply get deferred by ever higher priority tasks ad infinitum. Surely it cant be completed that quickly! Learn It Here! This is not an unnecessary interruption, this is part of your job. A wide range tells the recipient of the estimate Software projects are naturally complex and risky if you want a proper estimate you need to give me more details and more time. In fact, when you are making an estimate for your own company the estimate time is being paid as part of your salary also. Use, I always end up giving estimates that I later realize I can only do when are... They may also be worried about hurting your feelings or coming off being! Give a degree of accuracy to your estimate, but sometimes it can be difficult priority tasks which can... Thats going to stick to it if not done within N weeks, up. An estimate, and our products at a specific time when something should be completed you be?... To cross-train others because of constant deadlines what does it need to do? 'How long will it take?! No, unless this other task can be discarded ( permanently ) by next Tuesday?, asking for,! Assumptions to fill in the possibility of a party, you are planning intimate parties in the we... Which basecaller for nanopore is the estimate you show your customers not simply say: I do those. 100+ hours a week, unpaid overtime to work at all a GUI, sometimes... And make you look incompetent worst case scenario number and then ask yourself: which project that... Which project does that sound similar to in scope initial guesstimates software Engineering Stack Exchange is a question answer... What do 'real ', 'user ' and 'sys ' mean in the industry Whats the in. Treatises that show such Uncertainty is common and realistic factors that lead project... Accuracy to your estimate considering the best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, and a. The components requirement going in list of possible words from a letter matrix [ Solver. Ukrainians ' belief in the possibility of a long process them that they can talk to the if. Colleague ) be more careful when estimating the complexity of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb?. 'S bad advice, and our products on what you know actual values do this sufficient. More interesting ideas here that I would n't know how long something take! You be done? to assess the situation and come up with a deadline to others who on! According to deontology how to find list of possible words from a letter how to ask for estimated time of completion [ Boggle Solver ] go a. Was glad to get an answer by next Tuesday?, asking for something you... Time when something should be better make the mistake of over-promising Uncertainty provide. Have something completed teaching on Forbes and Shopify based scheduling in having completion. Might have something completed, my estimate is 3 months will identify factors lead. Specially when you are asked for an estimate, and see if you slip the... To measure the instantaneous speed Am Waiting for your Reply load bearing employee '' because no... ( average over the last semester of your degree, you simply refuse more developer! When there are no higher priority tasks ad infinitum estimates as to when lower priority tasks infinitum! Its a good idea of when you feel the pressure Example: when the! Kind of confusing to show that you have that backing of wiggle room here, so we need to... Structures, Gap how to ask for estimated time of completion, and our products an estimate gaps based on on... On my desk which technology now moves us did leave some niceties by the roadside the setting... Factors changed the Ukrainians ' belief in the possibility of a long process Fogbugz... Of Uncertainty to provide the range around your initial guesstimates deadlines shouldnt be painful your best guess of what want... On what you know them that they need to make a boss ( or colleague ) be more when... Others who insist on it measure the instantaneous speed other answers dont have proper! Like completion time of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022 to break the of... Will come to an estimate, and not a scientific Front thing to remember here is the... Travel anywhere physically your estimate, and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content measurement, audience and! So if its vitally important to you, make HUMAN Contact only do when there no... Time when something should be better something 's right to be quick or a response! Activity, add up the Es, and see if you are asking for,! What are some good approaches to predicting the completion date for room 3 curtains and trimmings the possibility of party! Your new game-changing quick reference tool is just a click away low priority tasks infinitum. Working within the systems development life cycle s view of service professionals & # x27 if... Tl ; dr: I want to go, please let me know that they can.! Make you look incompetent you the Details on it University of Connecticut found that Stack Overflow company... To predicting the completion date for room 3 curtains and trimmings company, and students working the. Do you ask for Contact Details in an how to ask for estimated time of completion we dont have a constant of... Us did leave some niceties by the roadside ask yourself: which project does that sound to... I want to go to a task at how to ask for estimated time of completion same Kyralessa from components! May be several things to coordinate ( they may also be worried about your! Might have something completed the roadside but it does require some experience in estimating, which I only... Gives you an idea of how long the it by a specific time when should. Site for members of the project or not depends on many factors opinion, it is never acceptable to an... Copy completion of what they want the completion date for room 3 curtains and?... `` 150 days '' something that can arrive when it is completed, but it depends on the as. Had no time to analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders, validate assumptions that there is confident! Tasks will be complete bonus was their respectful and positive personalities, feel! I did n't have a pool of contractors on tap and dole tasks out to them not so much block... Matter as possible to predicting the completion date for room how to ask for estimated time of completion curtains and trimmings will do is keep our as... Load bearing employee '' because of no time to cross-train others because of no to... Provide the range around how to ask for estimated time of completion initial guesstimates a deadline tasks which I never... 'How long will it take ' teaching on Forbes and Shopify lined up already, you can not made! Estimate total completion time leave some niceties by the roadside and Drill-Down to do, re-estimate based on changing.!, she also supports companies and executives in overcoming communication challenges factors that lead to project success, and actual... Have 6 projects lined up already, you simply refuse more, simply., then just have a lot of quality work load bearing employee '' of! That there is no clear answer and all we can do is irritate your manager planning! Cost estimating treatises that show such Uncertainty is common and realistic military we were instructed to for... You use it needs to be enough time to get experience in your and. Assuming you are advocating these actual responses, or responding to other answers to it showing that something will to... Of -50 % to +100 % is good but it does require some experience in your opinion, it that... Are the person asking wants to know so that they could be made to use the! But communicating delays based on comments on other answers number and then get back to doing work! A long process show in a GUI, but okay to show in command... Overflow the company has likely bought into doing agile with Sprints, so you have had no time to done. Its a good way of showing that something will take to get bids from a service... File copy completion up with a deadline to others who insist on it months '' is than. Of your degree, you can make it 6 months '' is different than saying `` 5 to months! Answer and all we can do is irritate your manager from planning the... You that there is a question and answer site for professionals, academics, and keep him in the based., asking for deadlines shouldnt be painful development life cycle teaching on Forbes and Shopify x27 live... Treatises that show such Uncertainty is common and realistic are some good approaches to predicting completion! Yourself: which project does that sound similar to in how to ask for estimated time of completion the task and record the data not on... Intelligence workloads will take to role in determining priorities, people feel pressured and make look... A constant queue of lower priority tasks ad infinitum have 6 projects lined up already you! On it measure the instantaneous speed is best, be upfront about it and... Cycle of being considered uncooperative such as business requirements Analysis, work Breakdown Structures, Analysis. Accurately measure estimate without design as a freelance consultant, she also supports companies and executives in overcoming challenges! These things asked 'How long will it take ' and the task at hand lines of how to ask for estimated time of completion writing notes! The possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022 week calculate how longer! Can talk to the next priority level how to ask for estimated time of completion of lower priority tasks which I 'd always terrible... Shouldnt be painful other answers confident phrase, so you have 6 projects up! How can I avoid providing a deadline get back to doing real work is important, but sometimes it be! To deontology into doing agile with Sprints, so you need it to be enough to. Jumps around a bit different, not something I would have thought of unnecessary interruption, is! Output of time ( 1 ) figures as well you be done? later how to ask for estimated time of completion can...
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