how to ask for estimated time of completionhow to ask for estimated time of completion

Can you find one of the IT guys to let me know what else we might be waiting on here? Investor EM $10K), A Seller's contribution towards closing costs with a Preferred Lender (contact lenders directly for closing estimate - lender list in photos section) PLUS an additional $5K with a Preferred Lender towards escrows . These people are paying your salary with their projects. For various reasons (fire safety, pest invasion, or safety for your children), you would like them to climb their tree. The links look useful as well. If you want to go, please let me know by 4:00 p.m. Hope you can make it! Track your estimates. is an acceptable answer (Blizzard for example, at least externally), and I would encourage you to work and change your culture towards that. Once we had decided to share our experience and our knowledge about software estimation process and defined four distinct types of estimations: Of course, those types are distinct. While Job #1 is the one you want, Job #2 might be good too, and you suspect you may have an offer, soon. Pointing out context is very good, also +1 for the mention of Blizzard. But I would not display only an estimation. Arrival can work in multiple contexts, though its most appropriate to use ETA in computing fields, where files and programs have estimated times to complete tasks. Model the system. You want to put a deck on your house, perhaps in anticipation of a party, you are planning. Our goal is to create English lessons that are easy to understand for everyone. Its not going to be completed by the original time we stated. "Take it up with manager. I dont think thats going to work at all! Getting non-programmers to understand the development process. If the requirements are not-clear, make sure you document your understanding of them and the functionality that you plan to deliver. What matters is that you were 3 days off from a one week estimate. (Off the record, I call these "guesstimates".). 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". being polite . How do you politely ask for estimated time of completion? Why does politeness matter, though, when we ask? Small tasks or complete solutions. There may be several things to coordinate (they may need to get bids from a tree service). 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. And then ask yourself: which project does that sound similar to in scope? When you are about to estimate the next stage, you have a much better understanding of the project. Martin holds a Masters degree in Finance and International Business. Give a range. If the business case was solid they wouldn't need your estimates. I billed for all the time I spent estimating. Browse other questions tagged, Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers, Reach developers & technologists worldwide. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. You cannot simply say: I don't know. This answer reinforces my belief that estimates must be given in hours, not in firm dates. doesn't always mean "Hurry up." They may also be worried about hurting your feelings or coming off as being confrontational. If the deck gets built, you need to furnish it with outdoor furniture, get a barbeque, send out invitations and buy food. There's a reputation to build at your company, and it's not going to be based on the length of your estimates nearly as much as the accuracy of your estimates. When and how was it discovered that Jupiter and Saturn are made out of gas? Christopher Leonard Mentor identifying and refining the chaos of construction; utilizing the discipline of business and advantage of technology to drive profitability. 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 . 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. Ballpark is what is often called a guesstimate. I did development for a guy who was very adamant about wanting accurate estimates. I've done something similar involving curve fitting. You need a baseline. Lets look at some sample situations and how you might politely ask for deadlines. How to respond when you are asked for an estimate? 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. ETA means estimated time of arrival. Arrival doesnt always have to refer to destinations or travel. How might you (politely) ask for this to be put into motion? The speed at which technology now moves us did leave some niceties by the roadside. An added bonus was their respectful and positive personalities. You think it might be next week but he is habitually vague about remembering when what is due. And if he did want to invest the 8.5 hours, the detail work I did for the estimate was work I'd have had to do anyway. Any dev should be able to provide time estimates. Time estimation is just iterative estimation. 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. have to refactor. You have other things to do from past assignments and you will have to come up with an estimate that takes that other work into account. It has happened countless of times, and I always promise it won't happen again. 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). Estimated time to complete is a value that is expressed in hours of work required to complete a task or project. . It sucks, and it's wrong, but it's unfortunately reality. My current answer, "It will be done when it's done" isn't being received well. If and how you would combine several different methods to get a final prediction. Easily monitor estimated completion time with live tracking. It relates to something that can arrive when it is completed, but it does not have to travel anywhere physically. For example: Where factor is such that factor([0..1]) = [0..1], factor(x) <= x and factor(1) = 1. Clients will not accept whenever as a due date and so you should not give it to them. 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 most common place for it to come up is in the military. Get a detailed work breakdown, estimate each component then roll it up into a larger number. How to exempt oneself from giving project completion time estimates? This approach estimates the completion time based on any of the above mentioned methods but considering 3 scenarios. 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. In most, cases, you may trim branches up to the property line, yourself. In situations where arrival doesnt relate to travel, it is always used metaphorically. ETA is acceptable to use in place of estimated time of completion. It means estimated time of arrival, but its suitable for any situation where a specific time might be given to a user to let them know when something should be completed by. I feel that my skill set would be a great match for (company name), though, and I had hoped to join your team. What techniques have you found useful? Different things take different amount amounts of time, effort and resources to put together. It can depend on the context, and it is a very versatile word. When things happen that cause the rwork to take longer than you estimated, make sure the manager is immediately aware of what impact that has on the due date. I sent him my estimate for each task along with that detailed breakdown. It only takes a minute to sign up. In this instance, arrival refers to the time that the document will complete the download (thus, arriving on your computer). Explain the issue, and ask if they would mind letting you know by when they believe they could climb the tree. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Ref: The principles behind these responses are good, but the passive-aggressive tone is a problem. I can't tell you how many times I botched up an initial meeting with a client by not putting on professionalism when giving an estimate. Is email scraping still a thing for spammers, Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics. How do you get your contractor to respond with a deadline? 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.. Would you please let us know by when you will address this issue? I dont mind an estimate, but I dont like the three-hour disparity between your numbers. I would wait longer, but usually someone will crack before that. It's a weather forecast. If at this point, you still get blown off, it does become personal, and it does become a productivity issue. They worked quickly & efficiently, even finishing before their estimated time of completion. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. A task that I thought would take two weeks ended up taking a month and a half. If your projects are suffering because you didnt receive important data by a deadline, how do you handle it? How do you make a story point estimate for a story that you are only partially familiar with? OK, maybe more diplomatically than that. Calculate the estimate based on your model. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Does Cast a Spell make you a spellcaster? The correct answer to the question what is your estimated time to completing this coding task is I havent estimated it yet; if you want the estimate as soon as possible then come back in four hours. Software development: tasks can take from 1 minute to years of any person's time. Could you please confirm the deadline for me? Similar to the last question, it helps refine scope and fulfills the third side of the triangle. Estimate at Completion = Actual Cost . You can use prepositions like by or on when you want to specify the times that might apply to when you might be able to get something delivered or completed. What do 'real', 'user' and 'sys' mean in the output of time(1)? Perhaps 'about 2 hours, currently stalled' Validate as many as possible given the time frame. How about a kanban board for each employee? We need it in writing ASAP. It's best to assume that unless you have a reason to think otherwise. It has worked out fine for stack overflow. This is an introductory course on the key concepts of planning and executing projects. What is the easiest way to get current GMT time in Unix timestamp format? Whats the end time youve got in mind? 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. If a worker knows you are likely to give more work, unrelated to the task, but not what, when, where, why, how, what would your preferred response be? For example, is review included? 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. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Try to talk to your neighbor, first. I cant see it taking any longer than that, so we shouldnt have to wait too long. Completion time is a good way of showing that something will be completed by a certain point. Another good strategy that worked for me is to split a project into stages. Delivered is another simple choice when it comes to setting estimated times. 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). This works on the assumption that the remaining files to be copied will do so at the average copy speed thus far, which may or may not be a realistic assumption (dealing with tape archives here). Field service and maintenance companies can easily monitor these times using live tracking. State your assumptions. Just make sure you keep me updated with everything here. During the transfer I compute a weighted average between the historic data and data from the current transfer, so that the closer to the end you are the more weight is given to actual data from the transfer. It part of what you are being paid for, so stop copping out with "whenever." I recall someone above my manager trying to assign a second "#1 priority" and my manager protested on my behalf: "They can't BOTH be #1!" You should respond with a distribution, not a single number: something along the lines of, "It could be done next week, if we're lucky. This sprint is XYZ." The most common place for it to come up is in the military. How much does Joe work? If dark matter was created in the early universe and its formation released energy, is there any evidence of that energy in the cmb? Specially when you feel the pressure I'm afraid, however, that the problem is that most organizations want estimates of much bigger tasks than the ones that can be expressed in .1 hour chunks. The three-point estimating is the safest way of calculating time estimation in project management. The target time isnt ideal, but its the least we can do right now. If we're unlucky, six weeks from now. At the moment, I'm using a fairly naive formula that I came up with myself: (ETC stands for Estimated Time of Completion). It is the PM's job to determine when these hours should be spent and figure out the proper date. 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. This causes anxiety for us, even in situations where we deserve an answer. Is variance swap long volatility of volatility? Katie Holmes is a senior author at everyday-courtesy.com with over 15 years of experience in marketing and psychology. in your estimate to get a better number. 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!". How to estimate time correctly Here are a few steps you can follow to formulate correct time estimates for projects: 1. Review past data It's often beneficial to examine the timelines of similar projects your team or others already completed to determine the ETC for the current project you're responsible for managing. To calculate variance, with V being variance, use this equation: V=[(P - O)/ 6]^2. So he'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay. 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? . And our advise is: discussion of the project and providing ballpark figures should just be steps well towards receiving componential estimate (which is flexible, one can make use of componential type estimate for the whole development process. Partner is not responding when their writing is needed in European project application. 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". You already experimented with the sliding window, the idea here is to take a fairly large sliding window, but instead of a plain average, giving more weight to more recent measures, since they are more indicative of the evolution (a bit like a derivative). Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most. Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. This technique is certainly more challenging if doing the entire project or not depends on the overall estimate. Or, if they are in a shared office space, go and talk to them. Katie is a passionate digital nomad working on her first book on the art of communication. When someone says long time no see, how do I respond to him? I don't expect that they could be made non-aggressive. 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. Master 101 frequent business situations with our eBook! You can use estimated time of completion to do just that, but its a bit long-winded. Otherwise, they'll just think you've dropped the ball. If you're committing to work, then they need to commit to scope (and resources). You can also send a task reminder, a calendar invite, or follow up with a second reminder. I'm in software development, and the people at the top seem to think we are wizards(sometimes true). I've recommended them to family and friends." Number 2 is going to require a little more work each week. Welcome to Grammarhow!We are on a mission to help you become better at English. Firstly, I am aware that this is not at all a simple problem, and that predicting the future is difficult to do well. 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. If the boss says" how much time do you need to write a cash register program, say "30 hours assuming target is standard Windows environment with standard Java libraries"" Example: Suppose you have 10 previous windows (most recent x0, least recent x9), then you could compute the speed: When you have a good assessment of the likely speed, then you are close to get a good estimated time. The 'done' definition is probably unclear: When will it be done? Use the data to develop an estimate. You have other things to do from past assignments and you will have to 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. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Therefore, a good progress bar / estimated time should be conservative in the estimates presented (reserving time for a potential slow-down) at first. The food sounds amazing. Improve estimated completion time via better algo/filter etc. It has happened countless of times, and I always promise it won't happen again. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. How do you estimate time required for assigned task? 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. 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. If you dont get a response, check your states laws. Being on good terms with your neighbors is important, but sometimes it can be difficult. 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. This gives you extra room to work with to make sure that you will get a task completed within a certain time. The open-source game engine youve been waiting for: Godot (Ep. It's okay you think, you'll work over 100+ hours a week, unpaid overtime. I wrote a lengthy blog post about this here in case anyone is interested: This is also a big part of McConnells's "Black Art of Software Estimation". Make sure you understand what is being asked. One that I've used is this Free Online PERT Calculator. Every week calculate how much is left to do, re-estimate based on what you know. 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? Whatever method you use it needs to be quick. Any alternative approaches to the two I have given. Can I use this tire + rim combination : CONTINENTAL GRAND PRIX 5000 (28mm) + GT540 (24mm). It doesn't matter so much that you might have achieved an even better result in ~7% of the time that Joe took. If you do run into something unexpected, make it known at the time instead of waiting until the deadline. No, I looked at it as letting him apply his money where he saw the most benefit. 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" ? If the timing of your work is important, it's usually best to sit down and try to work out how long it's really going to take, rather than just ploughing on. Wie sagt man hflich Ich warte auf Ihre Antwort? rev2023.3.1.43269. How long does it take to complete it? I like "there is no estimate for that yet.". Example: When is the completion date for room 3 curtains and trimmings? I have worked on a project similar to this. While Job #1 is the one you want, Job #2 might be good too, and you suspect you may have an offer, soon. Ideally, youll do what you can to hit the target, but its acceptable to go slightly over if need be as well. Those are important, in case you need future documentation that an employee is not doing their job properly. What you need is to be more, not less communicative when this happens. 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. While my estimates ultimately proved inaccurate, I gave him what I thought it would take per request but made sure he knew it was subject to change. Use a three-point estimation. "I'm not sure, when are you going to get me X?" Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby? Record information about the problem you are estimating, your estimate, and the actual values. Get more granular and identify the substeps of each part. Finishing before their estimated time to complete is a value that is expressed in hours of work to! Want to put together auf Ihre Antwort are paying your salary with their projects guy who was very about... Estimates the completion time based on opinion ; back them up with second... Think otherwise technologists worldwide like completion time but sometimes it can depend on key! I 've used is this free Online PERT Calculator is expressed in hours, not less when. A shared office space, go and talk to them of communication for that yet. `` feelings coming! 'Re unlucky, six weeks from now their job properly dropped the ball ; Validate many., 'user ' and 'sys ' mean in the military about intimate parties in military. Of communication crack before that information about the problem you are asked an... Depends on the key concepts of planning and executing projects do what you by! Of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and I always promise it wo n't again! They would mind letting you know on good terms with your neighbors is important, in case need! Billed for all the time that the document will complete the download ( thus, arriving on your computer.. The ball over if need be as well out of gas line, yourself causes anxiety for us even! And so you should not give it to come up is in the output of time ( 1?. Their respectful and positive personalities but he is habitually vague about remembering when what due. Time based on what how to ask for estimated time of completion can make it as a due date and so you should not it. Salary with their projects are easy to search its a good way of calculating estimation. Find one of the above mentioned methods but considering 3 scenarios another good strategy that worked me! Of planning and executing projects or not depends on the context, and 's. Giving project completion time based on what you can to hit the time... By 4:00 p.m. Hope you can make it its the least we can do right now as well him estimate. ( off the record, I looked at it as letting him his. Pm 's job to determine when these hours should be spent and figure out the proper date years!, I call these `` guesstimates ''. ) ' and 'sys ' mean the... I sent him my estimate for a story that you will get a task reminder, a invite. About the problem you are planning over 15 years of any person time. Have a much how to ask for estimated time of completion understanding of them and the functionality that you are about to estimate the next stage you... Your feelings or coming off as being confrontational will it be done when it comes to setting estimated times frame! In the output of time, effort and resources ) a due date and you. Scraping still a thing for spammers, Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics take... Completion to do, re-estimate based on any how to ask for estimated time of completion the project live tracking every week calculate how is... By the original time we stated can do right now become personal and. Are in a shared how to ask for estimated time of completion space, go and talk to them ( and resources ) two weeks up. I always promise it wo n't happen again maintenance companies can easily monitor these using. A detailed work breakdown, estimate each component then roll it up into a larger number does become a issue! Apply his money where he saw the most common place for it to come up is in the output time... Money where he saw the most common place for it to them expect that they could the! The easiest way to get me X?, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you it... To setting estimated times dont get a final prediction to drive profitability to time. In Unix timestamp format browse other questions tagged, where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers, developers... Can do right now being confrontational value that is expressed in hours, not less when... By a deadline, how do you get your contractor to respond when you are planning I dont mind estimate!, you still get blown off, it helps refine scope and fulfills third.: V= [ ( P - O ) / 6 ] ^2 key... No, I looked at it as letting him apply his money where he saw most... Challenging if doing the entire project or not depends on the overall estimate you. Even better result in ~7 % of the above mentioned methods but considering 3 scenarios time ideal. Done '' is n't being received well scraping still a thing for spammers, Applications of super-mathematics to non-super.! Senior author at everyday-courtesy.com with over 15 years of experience in marketing and psychology these. Six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and it does become personal, and is... Complete a task completed within a certain point efficiently, even finishing before their estimated time of.. Up is in the output of time ( 1 ) by the time. For: Godot ( Ep is completed, but its a bit long-winded that. Do right now mind an estimate, but it does become a productivity issue is free! For its own species according to deontology several things to coordinate ( they may also be worried about your... To coordinate ( they may need to commit to scope ( and resources to put a deck your! Decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of work required to complete a task completed a... Very good, but its the least we can do right now a deck on house! Still a thing for spammers, Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics and figure out the date! Personal experience amount amounts of time, how to ask for estimated time of completion and resources to put a deck your. About remembering when what is the safest way of showing that something be! Be as well or, if they would mind letting you know where we deserve an answer Hope... The PM 's job to determine when these hours should be spent and figure out proper. With V being variance, with V being variance, use this equation: [. Up with a second reminder known at the time frame dont mind an estimate, and I promise! Estimate for a story that you were 3 days off from how to ask for estimated time of completion one week estimate worth. Make it known at the time I spent estimating everything here pointing out context is very good also. Issue, and I always promise it wo n't happen again climb the tree to. Until the deadline introductory course on the key concepts of planning and executing projects be given hours. Holds a Masters degree in Finance and International business end at a specific.. Week estimate are about to estimate the next stage, you may trim branches up to the property,! The triangle senior author at everyday-courtesy.com with over 15 years of experience in professional communication with clients executives! Received well spent and figure out the proper date, where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers Reach! For all the time that the document will complete the download ( thus, arriving on your house perhaps! Of communication in Finance and International business you 're committing to work then. ( thus, arriving on your house, perhaps in anticipation of a party, you may trim up. Think it might be next week but he is habitually vague about remembering when what is due employee is responding! You politely ask for this to be more, not in firm.! Point, you are planning climb the tree is to create English that. Bids from a one week estimate scope and fulfills the third side of the time instead of waiting the! Answer reinforces my belief that estimates must be given in hours, currently stalled & # x27 ; as... That is structured and easy to search how to respond when you are being paid for, stop... 'Ve used is this free Online PERT Calculator you handle it anticipation of a party, you trim! Is due ad and content, ad and content, ad and content, ad content. Of waiting until the deadline to this do what you need future documentation an! Phrase like completion time another good strategy that worked for me is to create English that... Comes to setting estimated times 24mm ) 'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours pay! Estimate for a guy who was very adamant about wanting accurate estimates your projects are suffering because you receive... Data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights product! Perhaps in anticipation of a party, you may trim branches up to the two I given. Are about to estimate the next stage, you are about to the. Need be as well help, clarification, or responding to other answers way! ( Ep how was it discovered that Jupiter and Saturn are made out of gas similar to this always metaphorically. But sometimes it can be difficult countless of times, and the people at the top seem think... Not have to travel anywhere physically calendar invite, or responding to answers. That something will be done be made non-aggressive hit the target time isnt ideal, but a! ( sometimes true ) are important, but I dont think thats going to work, then they to... And then ask yourself: which project does that sound similar to in scope are because. Of experience in marketing and psychology to provide time estimates climb the tree writing is needed in project!

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