Timescales... 1

[mikeg8]

I heard this somewhere a few years ago (I wish it was all mine!)...

When asked how long something will take, work it out roughly, in your head, then multiply by four and tell 'em that. In this way, when the job takes twice as long as you thought, you still complete it in half the time you told 'em! You can't fail to shine!

Mike

 

[Sashanan]

While a factor four may be a bit over the top, it is certainly good practice to make your time estimates generously. Not in the last place because it's much more common to overestimate how much you can do in a given time than underestimate it, and things will *never* go as smooth as you had in mind.


"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

 

[mikeg8]

And another one in a similar vein...

Ninety percent of a project takes 90% of the time, the remaining 10% of the project takes the other 90% of the time!

Mike

 

[Sashanan]

A personal favorite:

A poorly planned project takes three times as long as expected, whereas a well planned project merely takes two times as long as expected.


"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

 

[diogenes10]

Dont know if this is of use to you, there was another thread awhile back which I cant find to point you to that included it.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000245.html

 

[benlinkknilneb]

Scotty, the chief engineer on the USS Enterprise, said he always multiplied his repair estimates by 4 in order to keep up his reputation as a miracle worker...

Ben

"If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum." - Anonymous

 

[pmonett]

By the current state of the market, if you give a 4x estimate, you'll never get the contract.
The best thing for a proper estimate is experience. That, and proper specifications that outline accurately what the project needs. Whatever the domain, you need to have been there and done that in order to know how long it is liable to take.
And, with enough experience, you can factor in the additional variables (ie. will I get blackballed at every corner, or will I just get stabbed from time to time) with reasonable accuracy.

If you are already in-house, then I find that giving an accurate estimate is still a good thing. If you can hold yourself to it, you can make yourself a reputation of the "when he says so, its done" kind, which is always good.

Of course, inside or out, you can still fall on the one exception for which there is no cure : bad specifications (specs that do not describe accurately what the project needs). There is no cure for that, except more time and work.

Pascal.

 

[Sashanan]

Lovely link. Thanks for sharing, that was a very interesting read. I believe I'll be trying to do a little Excel scheduling.


"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

 

[MasterRacker]

You guys are all conservative. The real rule (I don't remember where I originally heard it) is to take your rough estimate, double it then change it to the next higher unit. This way you get 4 weeks for a two day job....


Jeff
If your mind is too open your brains will fall out...

 

[MasterRacker]

Woops, misquoted it. It's supposed to be add 1 and switch to next measure of time. So a two day job takes 3 weeks, not 4. (It makes a difference.....)


Jeff
If your mind is too open your brains will fall out...

 

[Sashanan]

That would have given me 10 months for this 9 week job, which, indeed, I'll never be able to finish in that time.

Mmm...


"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

 

[Stevehewitt]

I simply add a unit onto what ever I quote. (Development of software, Web design or networking.)
E.G. Real estimate for new website: 2 weeks.
What I'll tell the customer: up to 3 weeks.

Real estimate for Access Database: 1 month
What I'll tell the customer: Up to 2 months.

Problem solved. Doesn't really work to well when its a big project taking over a year. (You think its a year and tell them its 2 and its time to find a new client!)

Steve.