In general, honesty is best, be upfront about it, and keep him in the loop. The 'done' definition is probably unclear: When will it be done? I asked a follow up question concerning your 3rd point. The 'done' definition is probably unclear: When will it be done? 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. How long should you wait for someone to answer a question? Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Is email scraping still a thing for spammers, Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics. If you go over the deadline specified, you missed the point of by. Naturally, this could put you in your bosss bad books, so be careful with the times you set here! Get the Ebook, Succeed in 101 Situations! Check your schedule. But I would not display only an estimation. Based on the duration, you can quote the estimate in different precision. However, sometimes we need to know something by a certain date. $5,000 Builder Price Increase Effective Immediately for March. . Guess who gets perceived as the jackass? All that will do is irritate your manager and make you look incompetent. Difference Explained (Helpful Examples), What Does Within 24 hours Mean? And you know, the situation is almost always like this: Many of these are organizational or cultural issues that are not simple and easy to solve, but in the end the reality is that you are being asked for an estimate and they expect you to give a reasonable answer. As we mentioned, estimated completion time refers to the time a service request is expected to be finished. How did StorageTek STC 4305 use backing HDDs? How to find list of possible words from a letter matrix [Boggle Solver]. 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? Centering layers in OpenLayers v4 after layer loading, Am I being scammed after paying almost $10,000 to a tree company not being able to withdraw my profit without paying a fee. Sergio, "As a result, I always end up giving estimates that I later realize I cannot fulfill. Rename .gz files according to names in separate txt-file. when in a new job position. Based on comments on other answers, it appears that your problem is not time estimating but communicating delays based on changing priorities. Wie fragt man in einer E-Mail nach Kontaktdaten? It has worked out fine for stack overflow. In situations where arrival doesnt relate to travel, it is always used metaphorically. . You have had no time to analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders, validate assumptions. And then, go. No need to re-estimate from scratch when you want to add, remove or replace features, services etc). Estimate at Completion = Actual Cost . If the estimate is just to provide a general idea on when it will be ready, I can generally do a quick estimate based on my experience. Don't do an estimate at this point. The requirements are unclear. But it does. 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". Ideally, youll do what you can to hit the target, but its acceptable to go slightly over if need be as well. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. If you dont find out soon, you will have to research other places. For example, is review included? Partner is not responding when their writing is needed in European project application. "I'm not sure, when are you going to get me X?" 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. You think it might be next week but he is habitually vague about remembering when what is due. I imagine it ultimately comes down to company culture, or the disposition of those who you are working with. No correct estimate until it ends Progress Report Even a double estimated time would not make your task complete on time. Ask Question Asked 4 years, 6 months ago. And then ask yourself: which project does that sound similar to in scope? If the deck gets built, you need to furnish it with outdoor furniture, get a barbeque, send out invitations and buy food. You think this is ridiculous, you think you can pull this off in one week. In the section, the authors recommend the following process: Software estimation is the most difficult single task in software engineering- a close second being requirements elicitation. If not, then he saved 7.5 hours over what it would've cost him if I'd done it without an estimate. You absolutely must give more information. Surely it cant be completed that quickly! You could respond by saying, Yes, its been too long, how have you been, or some variation of that. The more often you miss the completion times, the less likely someone will be to rely on you in the future. However, real life is such that sometimes they just dont. The screenshot below shows a dispatcher's view of service professionals' live status. Take a good look at the requirements you have. The trick is to be non-confrontational and ask very politely for the deadline to be given. Don't do this! Sometimes estimating becomes an enormous challenge for you and your team, especially when we are talking about software project estimation. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Having tried to handle it amicably will have been documented if your neighbor suddenly objects. Use the data to develop an estimate. Has Microsoft lowered its Windows 11 eligibility criteria? They may have good reasons. I found that with this method I was able to bring most tasks in on time or even early, without having to heavily overestimate. If you do run into something unexpected, make it known at the time instead of waiting until the deadline. How much does Joe work? I've read some books that say a range of -50% to +100% is good but it depends on many factors. A common issue is that a neighbors tree may encroach onto your property. Is it added to each line item? Because the time was broken down so minutely, I could tell early on if I was slipping. Weight the second method more if the copy speed is unpredictable, and is likely to do things like speed up/slow down for long periods, or stop altogether for long periods. It can depend on the context, and it is a very versatile word. Studies have demonstrated that users reacted very badly to slow-down and very positively to speed-up. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. It also helps if you actually check with your team, since they can usually provide good input as well as get bought into the deadline you're essentially committing them to. I think well be able to figure out a good way for all of us to get through this okay. 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. 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. The most common place for it to come up is in the military. How do you estimate time required for assigned task? There are occasions in life both business and social when you need a deadline. Sincerely, 123 Maple Street.. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. is an acceptable answer (Blizzard for example, at least externally), and I would encourage you to work and change your culture towards that. 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. This technique is certainly more challenging if doing the entire project or not depends on the overall estimate. In this case the client's decisions were Yes or No to particular features, not an overall Yes or No to the entire project. How to break the cycle of being a "load bearing employee" because of no time to cross-train others because of constant deadlines? Any alternative approaches to the two I have given. Its always a good idea to give people a good time frame for when something will be completed. This won't involve a change to your process/queue/prioritization - just a little extra work in time tracking of each task. I did extremely detailed examination of the tasks. But still all the planning would help only to a certain extent. This approach estimates the completion time based on any of the above mentioned methods but considering 3 scenarios. State your assumptions. Browse other questions tagged, Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers, Reach developers & technologists worldwide. 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 some situations, we need to know how to ask nicely. How to react to a students panic attack in an oral exam? Youll be waiting for ages if you dont! Im sorry its not quicker! Pretty much every good manager I've had has learned to recognize "Two weeks!" total completion time. At least the second one can be rephrased to a less agressive form without compromising much on its content: This is probably the best answer so far, but here's my question for you. It only takes a minute to sign up. What do 'real', 'user' and 'sys' mean in the output of time(1)? Therefore, a good progress bar / estimated time should be conservative in the estimates presented (reserving time for a potential slow-down) at first. Small tasks - Planning poker I've found to work really well (not perfect, some 1pt tasks have taken much longer and some 5pt tasks took minutes, but it all evens out in the end). They may also be worried about hurting your feelings or coming off as being confrontational. What are some good approaches to predicting the completion time of a long process? When you are asked to estimate due dates, is there a especially polite And then instead of answering with "2 Months", you can answer with "sounds like an L to me" (or whatever your calibration for project turns out to be). Because I have been on the job hunt, I believe I will soon have an offer. being polite . If you are asking for something and you need it by a specific date, be crystal clear. Nag a little if needed, but use the human touch to explain what you need and by when you need it. I will be booking it when they open tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. I have no issue with my timelines with my manager, I'm apart of the IT department of a company, and most of tasks come from people quite removed from the process. Another good strategy that worked for me is to split a project into stages. If the requirements are clear, you can estimate with a 20% error margin. Also, trust between you and your contractor should be better. As a rule, clients need a ballpark figure at the beginning of the project. Pretending you are too busy to answer is not acceptable either. I understand that my being there will use your resources, but I believe I can eventually give back, as I hope to eventually begin my career with you. "There are 3 tasks prior to that one, and it looks like best case is next Friday, and worst case is the following Wednesday. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. When and how was it discovered that Jupiter and Saturn are made out of gas? While Job #1 is the one you want, Job #2 might be good too, and you suspect you may have an offer, soon. I have several projects going so want to be sure that I get your data to you in plenty of time.. A simple way to get that is to have a factor that is a percentage of the completion, that you use to tweak the estimated remaining time. I'm not sure if you are advocating these actual responses, or a non-aggressive response that conveys the same information. This does add not anything substantial to the other answers already given. A model might be a mental model, diagrams, or existing data records. Bottom up is best. want to be sure that I get your data to you in plenty of time, https://today.uconn.edu/2019/06/please-thank-impact-online-politeness/, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233700639_Politeness_Myth_and_truth. How long does it take to complete it? Never write "it will work on IE8 or higher", be specific. When they say it's too much, I pretend to think for a minute then say, "You're right! Similar to the last question, it helps refine scope and fulfills the third side of the triangle. Dont just make them wait. If youre crushing on someone, dont play mind games, he says. It also works to keep business honest. Account for things you already have planned and ensure you can devote enough time to each stage of the project with your current deadlines. That's bad advice, and a poor approach to these things. 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. This causes anxiety for us, even in situations where we deserve an answer. Then provide a wide range. This is more work and requires more in depth thinking about the design and changes to the system, but is much more accurate, especially for larger pieces of work. What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? Well put everyone on this task! Probably managers will not accept that :). I would wait longer, but usually someone will crack before that. Probably this is why most of teams do 2 week sprints :). Being on good terms with your neighbors is important, but sometimes it can be difficult. Nobody has done an in depth analysis of all the implications. To calculate variance, with V being variance, use this equation: V=[(P - O)/ 6]^2. After calculating E and V for each activity, add up the Es, and you have an accurate time estimate for project completion. But it does." Estimated completion time of forEach() method. The target time isnt ideal, but its the least we can do right now. How can I make a boss (or colleague) be more careful when estimating the complexity of a task/project? 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. A model might be a mental model, diagrams, or existing data records. You need to complete this to graduate. You want to go to a new restaurant, but you have to make a reservation. I didnt realize the project was going to take this long on your own. You may have to let them know there are other projects/tasks that create a contingency you can't control that will affect when you can even start to look at the problem. Are technical delays included? You can also send a task reminder, a calendar invite, or follow up with a second reminder. Time estimation is just iterative estimation. If you dont get a response, check your states laws. I haven't tried it myself, but I'd like to, to see how accurate my estimations are. Learners will be exposed to state-of-the-art methodologies and to considering the challenges of various types of projects. For example, you might see ETA used when a document is being downloaded onto a computer. A text conversation can go stale in a few hours, he says. This is quite a hefty completion time! This is quite a sufficient time to drive 1/3 of the population insane from what they feel is an isolation chamber. Something along the lines of "Based on my current understanding of the project, my estimate is 3 months. If a law is new but its interpretation is vague, can the courts directly ask the drafters the intent and official interpretation of their law? The requirements are unclear. For context, I'm trying to predict the completion of a long file copy. Or, if they are in a shared office space, go and talk to them. In any event, "whenever' is not an acceptable answer. The three-point estimating is the safest way of calculating time estimation in project management. Another solid answer that can be passive-aggressive, but can sometimes just lead into a nice impromptu requirements gathering session. How much do you feel improved today? It does require some experience in your field and the task at hand. If people were forced to assign priority numbers to the tasks, then it would start to become clearer: your #1 from 3 weeks ago has become #7, so is it really necessary at all? can make people more receptive to your ideas. Other words: Start date, end date. Make sure you understand what is being asked. Would I be able to get an answer by next Tuesday?, Asking for deadlines shouldnt be painful. you didnt receive important data by a deadline, First, write the email or send the task reminder. Because I have some sort of bizarre mental block that makes me think everything sounds like it'll two weeks. This answer reinforces my belief that estimates must be given in hours, not in firm dates. Those are important, in case you need future documentation that an employee is not doing their job properly. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. . Its exasperating! Were really sorry if thats going to cause any issues. How to Estimate Time Accurately Use these steps to make accurate time estimates: Step 1: Understand What's Required Start by identifying all of the work that needs to be done within the project. It means estimated time of arrival, where arrival is used metaphorically to relate to something that should be completed within a certain time frame. Everyone should keep in mind the risks that come with software development estimating: underestimating, overestimating, total epic fail scenario etc. I didnt see your email. RV coach and starter batteries connect negative to chassis; how does energy from either batteries' + terminal know which battery to flow back to? originally suppose it might take. If we're unlucky, six weeks from now. Statistical Learning by Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman. 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. I'm stressed by having software deadlines imposed on me without my involvement. You need a baseline. The most common place for it to come up is in the military. Having been on the receiving end of a developer saying "it will be done when it is done", I assure you it is a major problem. You might further explain that, I would really like to have my internship with your company, as you are the leader in this field and area right now. Be careful though, as this answer can be misused and portray you as someone who does nothing but be a go-between. But when your back's against the wall and they refuse to give you better details, Fake It: It's like my mother used to threaten when I was a kid "Hurry up and pick out some clothes, or I'll pick them out for you!". @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". When do you reckon this will be completed by? I want to find out the ETC. it is 18 months and 2 million". except he finishes on time in exactly 5 months. View Syllabus. Not recommended. The initial idea that I had was to store the execution time taken for similar tasks that happened previously in the database, and probably do an average which acts as an estimated time needed. Passing the buck (i.e. How do you politely get a deadline out of him? The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? In most, cases, you may trim branches up to the property line, yourself. As a result, I always end up giving estimates that I later realize I cannot fulfill. So if it is like 5 months project you should be estimating it for a month or more. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. Our goal is to create English lessons that are easy to understand for everyone. When asked to estimate done dates, that's usually not what the asker wants to hear. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. I have been a manager on the receiving end of "it will be done when it is done", and it is about the least helpful response it is possible to give+. (The restaurant) requires a reservation. The idea is to compute the ETC from the last 'n' seconds or minutes (like your second idea). If you want to go, please let me know by 4:00 p.m. Hope you can make it! Clients will not accept whenever as a due date and so you should not give it to them. How do you get your contractor to respond with a deadline? 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". 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. How do you make a story point estimate for a story that you are only partially familiar with? Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. The problem here is this: let's say you and Joe made time estimates for the same task (but between two separate employees, unaware of both estimates at one time). Duress at instant speed in response to Counterspell. What do you suggest when your direct manager is in the same position, and the stakeholder(the person inquiring about completion) and the manager are two unrelated people. I keep track of the best and worst case averages and compute a range of possible ETCs. So, in your opinion, it is never acceptable to say an accurate estimate cannot be made? Estimated time to complete is a value that is expressed in hours of work required to complete a task or project. 1 day to do analysis, and then provide a tighter range), If the task it too large, break it up and provide a range for each piece. Consult historical data. Whats the time frame right now? Youre not going to get this delivered in time, are you? Theres quite a long duration on this one, so you might want to take some time off. lower and upper bound). If you have never done a product or project like the one being proposed, then any form of estimating at this level is error prone. How to accurately measure estimate without design as a Front End developer in agile? Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. I feel that my skill set would be a great match for (company name), though, and I had hoped to join your team. That said, be careful not to estimate yourself into a hole. Ie, each developer enters how long they think each task will take, and later, how long that task took, and it guages how accurate each developer is with their estimates to produce a probability curve for a finish date. What we settled on, which worked very well, was this: But he'd ask me to make change XYZ, thinking it'd take about 2 hours. . by accurate I mean that a stakeholder holds you accountable for. I'd estimate each piece in units of .1 hours (6 minutes). Doesnt more time need to be put into it? An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. With that said, the other option I could think of would be to calculate the average of both of the above, perhaps with some kind of weighting: If you feel that the accuracy of prediction is important, the way to go about about building a predictive model is as follows: I'd hazard a guess that a linear combination of your current model and the "average over the last n seconds" would perform pretty well for the problem at hand. In todays office, its just a fact: People blow off deadlines. their associated calculated values. Make it broad. IMO, this is. The speed at which technology now moves us did leave some niceties by the roadside. As a freelance consultant, she also supports companies and executives in overcoming communication challenges. Instead, you can convey your estimate, and give a degree of accuracy to your estimate. From The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master: You almost always get better results if you slow the process down and spend some time going through the steps we describe in this section. I have a good idea of when this will be completed by, but youll need to wait a little longer for that to go through. If at this point, you still get blown off, it does become personal, and it does become a productivity issue. It gives the answer you want, it's fairly factual and neutral in tone, and it suggests that an estimate could be made at some point, but certainly not right now here at the coffee machine without a clear picture of what would it actually mean to do the thing he's asking about. as an answer that requires a mild verbal pimp-slap in response. If you are dealing with an absentee owner or managed property situation, you may need to track down the property manager or owner and put your request in writing. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Is it going to be within the next three hours or not? He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? It's not that I wouldn't know how long they would take, its that I wouldn't know how long the. Indicate when progress has stalled - although if progress consistently stalls and then continues, we should be able to deal with that. Calculate the estimate based on your model. Record information about the problem you are estimating, your estimate, and the actual values. Yes you can. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. Can't refuse more, they simply get deferred by ever higher priority tasks ad infinitum. That is something that you should never say. I can't recommend that book highly enough. Read more about Martin here. Whatever you do never give absolute dates - only hours. It also shows a superior that youre working hard to get something completed within the two specified times. ), 9 Other Ways to Say Im Good At on a Resume, 10 Polite Ways to Say No Visitors after Surgery, 11 Best Ways to Say Im Here for You to a Loved One, 10 Professional Ways to Say I Am Not Feeling Well. What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? From this perspective, the answer is obvious - you need to do better task tracking and management. How To Ask A Photographer To Adjust Photos. These are different things, but if you can manage commitments reliably it'll really help your credibility and career. 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. Saying that and nothing else lands you in severe danger of being considered uncooperative. "programmer's pride" makes you give/accept shorter times than you Is there someone up higher you can ask?

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