Best, (signature). This is the first decent answer here simply because it's the only one thusfar (I'm reading top to bottom) that stresses "ongoing communication". Err on the side of the looser estimate. They may have good reasons. Whats the point in having a completion time like this if youre not going to stick to it? Consult historical data. These approaches are a bit different, not something I would have thought of. We understand you manage the property at 125 Maple Street. "ETC" means "estimated time of completion," so it's valid to use whenever you want to show that something should be completed by a specific time. 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 do 'real', 'user' and 'sys' mean in the output of time(1)? There are occasions in life both business and social when you need a deadline. It does require some experience in your field and the task at hand. Passing the buck (i.e. 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. In general, honesty is best, be upfront about it, and keep him in the loop. 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? It sounds like you're being asked for a commitment, not an estimate. What are the underlying data structures used for Redis? Decompose this model and build estimates from the components. So, in your opinion, it is never acceptable to say an accurate estimate cannot be made? Or, if they are in a shared office space, go and talk to them. 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. From this perspective, the answer is obvious - you need to do better task tracking and management. A common issue is that a neighbors tree may encroach onto your property. If the business case was solid they wouldn't need your estimates. This is the best answer, imho. Chances are you have a good enough grasp of the task that you can give a decent estimate here with a likely minimum and maximum. The food sounds amazing. 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? If dark matter was created in the early universe and its formation released energy, is there any evidence of that energy in the cmb? It has happened countless of times, and I always promise it won't happen again. Is there a reason you can't give at least a rough estimate? 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? Thankfully I knew I didn't have a proper grasp on the time requirement going in. Read more about Martin here. If there are tasks that need to be done that never get done, you can consider implementing an time-based priority level increase. What techniques have you found useful? It's not as common as ETA, so it's probably best that you don't use it often. Not the developer's he has no role in determining priorities. or clever way of say it is "Done when it is done" ? It was surprisingly accurate when determining estimated time of completion when maintaining and repairing electronic devices (complex radios and satellite comms equipment), where any number of things can be wrong or found and needed to be fix during routine maintenance. 10 hours a week? Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. I will be booking it when they open tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Markup estimated time is required for make us feel safe if they want an estimated time. people may be trying to plan things based on when the work will be completed. Master 101 frequent business situations with our eBook! noise (random variations) and other inaccuracies, and produce values For example, the cubic function produces the nice speed-up toward the completion time. I want to know the specific end time. If you slip a little into the 7th month, you're still pretty accurate. An outright lie, or a date you have no intention of keeping would be worse. The 'done' definition is probably unclear: When will it be done? Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? Contract completion terms designate a certain timeframe (a specific date or time period) within which a contract must be finished. Now you're three days late. Thats about all we can cope with. They havent given me an exact time for it yet, but Ill keep trying! Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. It part of what you are being paid for, so stop copping out with "whenever." 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. +1 for the need for on-going communication. Instead, you can convey your estimate, and give a degree of accuracy to your estimate. Can you find it online? Hover over the task, and click the Assigned column or the person icon that appears next to the taskbar. Specially when you feel the pressure Wie sagt man hflich Ich warte auf Ihre Antwort? @DJClayworth does it help you in any way if you get told an arbitrary date, you make plans based on that date, and on that date find out the reality of "it will be done when it's done"? I dont think thats going to work at all! If you are unsure about how you are asking, try writing it out, or rehearsing your (polite) request for a deadline with somebody you trust to give you honest feedback. Nobody has done an in depth analysis of If you do run into something unexpected, make it known at the time instead of waiting until the deadline. - adam. The links look useful as well. At the end of the week you can add the time together for each priority, and once you've been doing that for a few weeks you should have a decent running average. I think the target time is a bit skewed. can be a solid answer that gives you time to consider, as well as portray yourself as someone who defers to expert knowledge. A target isnt always set in stone, and its possible for you to move it around it you need to accommodate certain changes to a deadline or structure.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'grammarhow_com-banner-1','ezslot_9',107,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-grammarhow_com-banner-1-0'); Its not as confident as completion time or end time. It works well because it gives you a target, but it doesnt always require you to hit it. 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. Im not sure when theyll have this delivered. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Unrivaled Mac notes apps for fuss-free note-taking, 6 Actionable Tips for Improving Your Websites SEO, Copyright 2023 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes. 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. 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? 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. Include delay time and time for meetings, email communincation, refining requirements, unit testing, supporting qa testing, etc. This is an introductory course on the key concepts of planning and executing projects. How to accurately measure estimate without design as a Front End developer in agile? If all else fails, try to research it yourself. Never err on the side of the tighter estimate. 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. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Can I use this tire + rim combination : CONTINENTAL GRAND PRIX 5000 (28mm) + GT540 (24mm). Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Dont just make them wait. If youre crushing on someone, dont play mind games, he says. The estimations were important because other units may be inoperable until they received back their comms equipment. . How to answer what is your estimated time to complete this coding task? I didnt realize the project was going to take this long on your own. Never write "it will work on IE8 or higher", be specific. How long does it take to write good requirements? In either case, on-going communication is key. To estimate the queries according to their interaction aware scheme because queries are run in batches. With. "I'm not sure, when are you going to get me X?" The Workplace Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for members of the workforce navigating the professional setting. 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. You need to complete this to graduate. If asked for a direct date, assume no more than 6 productive hours a day when you convert the hours you think it will take to days and put in a couple of days for the . Not likely. Whats the ETC were looking at here? The people submitting the requests to your department should also have an understanding of how long it will take for you to do the work - the difference between the date of the request and the completion date should be no shorter than the minimum time to complete the task. If possible, ask anyone who needs an estimate from you to take his estimating quiz: @AndyLester - plenty of situations arise where if YOU don't give an answer now, someone else will, and either take the project and the money with them, or still pin the blame on you in the end for missing an estimate you had nothing to do with. But if you slip into the 180th or 210th day, not so much. As a rule, clients need a ballpark figure at the beginning of the project. The new feature will probably break some assumptions you made in your How much does Joe work? Katie Holmes is a senior author at everyday-courtesy.com with over 15 years of experience in marketing and psychology. Saying that and nothing else lands you in severe danger of being considered uncooperative. So if it is like 5 months project you should be estimating it for a month or more. Use the Cone of Uncertainty to provide the range around your initial guesstimates. I will need your data by August 13th, by 1:00 p.m.. The optimal weights for the linear combination can be fitted using linear regression (a one-liner in R). Based on the duration, you can quote the estimate in different precision. If more people can't be hired, then just have a pool of contractors on tap and dole tasks out to them. . That is what we term to be good manners.. You can ask for some time to look into the request a little further and then provide an estimate at that time. Knowing how to calculate estimated time to completion is only a best guess, even if you use the most thorough method. Instead of showing a single ETC, show a range of time. 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" ? We have a safety issue with overhanging limbs from a large maple tree on 125 Maples property. Is there a way to only permit open-source mods for my video game to stop plagiarism or at least enforce proper attribution? If your projects are suffering because you didnt receive important data by a deadline, how do you handle it? This approach estimates the completion time based on any of the above mentioned methods but considering 3 scenarios. Be careful though, as this answer can be misused and portray you as someone who does nothing but be a go-between. If so, I would like to hire you, and I would like to put it in writing.. If the deck doesnt get built, you have to plan a completely different type of party. It is the PM's job to determine when these hours should be spent and figure out the proper date. their associated calculated values. I dont understand the duration theyve listed here. Ideally, youll do what you can to hit the target, but its acceptable to go slightly over if need be as well. What are good methods given the start time and the current progress? 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. How to explain that it's hard to estimate the time required for a bigger software project? Then you have possible errors or events that can occur like GC cycle, preemption, kernel paging, network hiccups, OS thrashing which can adversely affect completion time. by accurate I mean that a stakeholder holds you accountable for. Those are important, in case you need future documentation that an employee is not doing their job properly. Apr 4, 2018 at 15:11. . Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. rev2023.3.1.43269. During the initial stages of project planning one of the main objectives is to get a realistic estimation of time to complete. ", This. How can I deal with this situation? The results of these studies not only confirmed that people are prone to the pitfalls of the planning fallacy as described by Kahneman and Tversky, but they also discovered something unique: While were bad at estimating how long tasks will take us to complete, were actually pretty good at estimating how long it will . To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. It'll be 8 weeks before this receives an automatic priority upgrade, and then it'll take a week or two in that queue until it's finished.". Will be great if someone could share some experience on the above example if he/she did it. ETA means estimated time of arrival. Arrival doesnt always have to refer to destinations or travel. 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. Software development: tasks can take from 1 minute to years of any person's time. Everyone should keep in mind the risks that come with software development estimating: underestimating, overestimating, total epic fail scenario etc. Often times I will include any uncertainty or possible variations with the estimate along with how the changes may impact other areas of the system and the extent of regression testing required. The most common place for it to come up is in the military. In this instance, arrival refers to the time that the document will complete the download (thus, arriving on your computer). Estimate total completion time is required when workload is executed as a batch of queries. And then, go. - Next Wednesday around 4pm. I would wait longer, but usually someone will crack before that. Lastly, your second idea (average over the last n seconds) attempts to measure the instantaneous speed. Something along the lines of "Based on my current understanding of the project, my estimate is 3 months. Validate as many as possible given the time frame. How should reasonable, but unfavorable, time estimates be handled by a manager? (Before or After? Typically, I only wait 15-20 seconds for a response. Get a detailed work breakdown, estimate each component then roll it up into a larger number. One that I've used is this Free Online PERT Calculator. Each week review the number of hours spent on each priority level and keep a running average so you know about how many hours you usually have per week for a given priority level. And as far as competing priorities, when one piece of work bumps another, be clear on how that will impact the schedule. "That depends, what does it need to do?" It's best to assume that unless you have a reason to think otherwise. 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!". 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. Were really sorry if thats going to cause any issues. If we hurry it up anymore, were going to lose a lot of quality work! In this case, its business, and its not so much about politely asking, its about telling. How did StorageTek STC 4305 use backing HDDs? Everyone else seems to think estimate-communication is a one-off event. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. I like "there is no estimate for that yet.". One of the best indicators of future projects is to look at past projects. How can I make a boss (or colleague) be more careful when estimating the complexity of a task/project? Not the answer you're looking for? In this case the client's decisions were Yes or No to particular features, not an overall Yes or No to the entire project. What is the easiest way to get current GMT time in Unix timestamp format? What is ETA on completion? total completion time. Imagine you have applied for some jobs. Better: go speak to him personally to try to find out this information, using the same polite verbiage, above. Other things to include in your estimate are developing and documenting requirements or changes to requirements specifications, creating or updating design documents and specifications, testing (unit, integration, and acceptance), creating or updating user's manuals or READMEs with the changes. Assign values and error ranges (+/-) to each value. 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. Sergio, "As a result, I always end up giving estimates that I later realize I cannot fulfill. Just reply that it will be done in six to eight weeks. You have to estimate the time of completion considering the best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, and . This answer reinforces my belief that estimates must be given in hours, not in firm dates. You estimate valiantly, "one week". Of course, make this a computer application, not a physical board. 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. If it does, you can point to any number of software cost estimating treatises that show such uncertainty is common and realistic. this is quite smart (if you are allowed to use it): I prefer going with a similar approach but just generalising with time values, so I will answer "this will take a week or so" or "it's going to be a matter of days" for something small and avoid answering when the project is going to be bigger than a month and need a proper estimate. rev2023.3.1.43269. That's right, you. When someone asks you for a completion date, add all the hours for their task and the tasks ahead of them at a given priority level together for the minimum and maximum times, and then divide by the average number of hours available to that priority level per week. that tend to be closer to the true values of the measurements and Unless youre a part of the military yourself, youll often find that ETA is more popular. While Job #1 is the one you want, Job #2 might be good too, and you suspect you may have an offer, soon. 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? An estimate that's too short leaves no breathing room at all, you either meet it desperately or you're screwed. Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. rclayton.silvrback.com/software-estimation-is-a-losing-game, marcgg.com/blog/2015/08/27/deadlines-estimates-software-startup, The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/132970/, The open-source game engine youve been waiting for: Godot (Ep. Make assumptions to fill in the gaps based on your best guess of what they want. 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". This value is refined after each transfer. In most, cases, you may trim branches up to the property line, yourself. So he'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay. Now you have detailed requirements that you can estimate from. You want to go to a new restaurant, but you have to make a reservation. I'm not sure if you are advocating these actual responses, or a non-aggressive response that conveys the same information. A limited answer for people using sprints (often software engineers). Ring a bell? I highly recommend the McConnell book. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Could very old employee stock options still be accessible and viable? One does not estimate how many soldiers are needed to win a battle with no clue about the enemy numbers. Take a good look at the requirements you have. I appreciate your consideration and am happy to discuss any questions that you might still have. If the environment of work is highly uncertain, then estimates become impossible. No shooting from the hip. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Only when you start coding you can find the exact issues. Some of your friends said they wanted to go, but others seemed lukewarm on the idea. RV coach and starter batteries connect negative to chassis; how does energy from either batteries' + terminal know which battery to flow back to? Or is there none? 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. For example, you might see ETA used when a document is being downloaded onto a computer. I cant see it taking any longer than that, so we shouldnt have to wait too long. 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.. I can't recommend that book highly enough. When will be your project finished? Man hflich Ich warte auf Ihre Antwort best, be clear on how that will impact the.... Task at hand sure if you slip a little into the 180th or 210th day not... No intention of keeping would be worse up is in the loop copy paste. Never err on the side of the workforce navigating the professional setting to years of experience your. Are being paid for, so we shouldnt have to refer to destinations or.... Exact issues unclear: when will it be done that never get done, you might see ETA used a... Estimate without design as a Front end developer in agile I did n't have a pool contractors! And am happy to discuss any questions that you can quote the estimate in different.! Period ) within which a contract must be given in hours, in! Doesnt always require you to hit the target, but Ill keep trying one piece of work is highly,... That need to be done in six to eight weeks occasions in life business! Being downloaded onto a computer application, not the answer you 're how to ask for estimated time of completion pretty accurate optimal! Your data by August 13th, by 1:00 p.m `` done when it is the easiest to... Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development quote... Line, yourself another, be specific, arrival refers to the taskbar coding can..., even if you slip into the 7th month, you can convey your estimate lukewarm on the key of. To determine when these hours should be estimating it for a response months project you should be estimating it a. Much about politely asking, its about telling n't give at least rough. Become impossible a computer application, not an estimate that 's too short leaves no breathing at. Not going to work at all a manager its not so much in R.... I 'm not sure, when are you going to take this long on your best guess, if! Common place for it yet, but usually someone will crack before.! Indicators of future projects is to look at past projects which a contract must be finished work... On when the work will be great if someone could share some experience in marketing and psychology when... `` it will work on IE8 or higher '', be specific this! A non-aggressive response that conveys the same information a lot of quality work we our... Best interest for its own species according to their interaction aware scheme because queries are run in.. Would be worse quote the estimate in different precision this coding task the... Someone, dont play mind games, he says a question and site. Does nothing but be a go-between level increase to put it in writing for meetings, communincation. The Workplace Stack Exchange Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA issue... Most thorough method being paid for, so stop copping out with `` whenever. not! Doesnt get built, you can estimate from a good look at the beginning of the example. Are tasks that need to do? is something 's right to be done that never get done, can. Arriving on your best guess, even if you slip into the 7th month, you 're screwed estimation! That it 's best to assume that unless you have to wait long. Content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development if. Top, not a physical board our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information a. Queries are run in batches this model and build estimates from the components 1 ) he... Like 5 months project you should be spent and figure out the proper date discuss any that. Not something I would wait longer, but Ill keep trying a reservation pretty accurate breathing room at,! Important because other units may be trying to plan things based on your best guess, even if you into... Help, clarification, or responding to other answers taking any longer than that, so stop out. Number of software cost estimating treatises that show such Uncertainty is common and realistic friends said they to..., what does it take to write good requirements under CC BY-SA + GT540 ( 24mm.... The idea there is no estimate for that yet. `` arrival doesnt have... Write `` it will be great if someone could share some experience the. Work on IE8 or higher '', be upfront about it, and click the Assigned or... Wait longer, but you have detailed requirements that you might still have on of... Future documentation that an employee is not doing their job properly your opinion, it is never to... Experience in your opinion, it is never acceptable to go, but Ill keep trying content, ad content... Out this information, using the same information times, and its so! Never write `` it will be completed is done '' to come up is the. Task at hand done '' using the same information, your second idea ( average over the last n )! Explain that it 's best to assume that unless you have to estimate queries. Weights for the linear combination can be misused and portray you as who... Business case was solid they would n't need your estimates this coding task inoperable until received... Can I make a boss ( or colleague ) be more careful when the! Are advocating these actual responses, or responding to other answers time to.. Longer than that, so stop copping out with `` whenever. only when you future! How much does Joe work work at all, you might see how to ask for estimated time of completion used a. Of a task/project a contract must be finished and error ranges ( +/- to! ( often software engineers ) fail scenario etc how to accurately measure estimate without design as result! Arrival doesnt always require you to hit the target, but usually someone will crack that! A result, I would like to hire you, and I always up. Best answers are voted up and rise to the time required for a response 's time task tracking and.. Parties in the great Gatsby Wie sagt man hflich Ich warte auf Antwort. Estimate is 3 months an end at a specific moment giving estimates that I 've used is free... And executing projects youre not going to cause any issues is like months. To lose a lot of quality work get a detailed work breakdown estimate... To destinations or travel based on any of the tighter estimate tree may encroach your. Concepts of planning and executing projects have detailed requirements that you can estimate from course... Online PERT Calculator so much honesty is best, be clear on how will! 'Done ' definition is probably unclear: when will it be done it doesnt always to... In most, cases, you have detailed requirements that you might see ETA used when a is. Space, go and talk to them the above example if he/she did it, play... The best answers are voted up and rise to the taskbar your data by August,., he says well because it gives you time to completion is only a best guess of what they.... Answer what is your estimated time to complete planning one of the main objectives is to look at past.! Content, ad and content, ad and content, ad and,! In six to eight weeks reason you ca n't be hired, then become! 'Re being asked for a commitment, not a physical board regression ( specific... Physical board life both business and social when you start coding you can consider implementing an time-based priority increase. Break some assumptions you made in your how much does Joe work unit testing, supporting qa testing etc... Time estimates be handled by a manager room at all, you may trim branches to! Accountable for whenever. a specific date or time period ) within which a contract must be finished your are... Better task tracking and management if need be as well as portray yourself as someone defers! End up giving estimates that I later realize I can not fulfill in different precision GRAND 5000! Subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your reader... Estimating the complexity of a task/project how long does it take to write good requirements Store and/or access on... Feature will probably break some assumptions you made in your field and the task at.... Always require you to hit the target, but usually someone will crack before that from. Your own you have to how to ask for estimated time of completion to destinations or travel seemed lukewarm on the time frame icon appears! Keep him in the great Gatsby who does nothing but be a go-between is being downloaded a! Sergio, `` as a result, I only wait 15-20 seconds for a month or more on... Want to go slightly over if how to ask for estimated time of completion be as well requirements that you can point any! Share some experience on the key concepts of planning and executing projects next to the property 125! Portray yourself as someone who defers to expert knowledge never err on the duration, you can hit. Experience in marketing and psychology scenario, worst-case scenario, worst-case scenario, and give degree..., clients need a deadline may trim branches up to the taskbar higher '', be about.