Why It’s So Hard to Accurately Estimate Time for Project Completion
Have you ever noticed that every time you plan a project, it ends up taking longer to complete than you expected? Something always seems to come up to delay progress. You always hear the maxim that time is money. But, if the motivation is there, why is it so challenging for everyone to manage their time? We’ve got some ideas about why this happens and what you can do about it.
Every task takes longer than you think
It’s only natural for us to be optimistic about the completion of a project. You may know you have a great team and a plan in place. Unfortunately, that optimism can lead you to underestimate the amount of time the project will actually take. Why? It’s because — especially for motivated and optimistic people — we tend to leave out planning for the inevitable random events that can put work behind. For instance, team members become ill; deliveries are delayed; tasks need revisions.
The good news is that by being aware of these things, you can make a more accurate time estimate for your project. Build in time for those random events on the front-end. Maybe they never happen, and that’s fine. It just means you finish your project ahead of schedule! But, there’s a huge difference in the emotions we feel when a project is behind schedule for reasonable causes and when a project is ahead of schedule because everything went smoothly.
Let’s say your project was estimated to take 2 months and it took 3. You feel bummed. But, if you planned for that same project to take 4 months and it only took 3, you feel great. It’s about your mindset.
And, the details are in the fine print
A project manager may be able to direct each team participating in a project. They may be able to plan the budget needed. They may even be able to account for random delays. But, there’s still the matter of the details. The only people who truly know what it takes to complete particular tasks are the team members responsible for them. Your project estimate includes an overview of how long each step of the process should take, but that doesn’t mean every detail is always accounted for.
Additionally, it’s unlikely that each team member is spending every hour of the day on that one project. So, even if you master plan the project, you aren’t necessarily able to control every other task your team members must attend to throughout the day. And, unexpected tasks can easily pop up — you’re IT team gets more support tickets; your customer service representatives get a heavy call volume; your outsourced developer loses their internet connection and has to find a Wi-Fi spot.
What can you do?
When faced with inevitable delays, the best way to proceed is to expect them and to plan for them. You may be antsy to get a project completed, but you let everyone down and create negative feelings for the team and your clients (and yourself!) if you set an unreasonable time frame. You cannot get 100 percent productivity from every team member every day. So, set a tight deadline, but remember to factor in all the little things that take up extra time, not just the major project tasks.
By planning properly, you’ll create a more positive project environment for your team. To get help with project management and time management tasks, try our smart productivity app, Enterprise Productivity Software. It keeps your whole team on the same page about project progress.
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