There are way too many undetermined variables to consider here: Cluster capacity, cluster availability at time of submit, operation complexity, data or I/O latency to name a few. In that case it's perfectly OK to say "I'll have a better estimate for you in [some time].". If you dont get a response, check your states laws. Make assumptions to fill in the gaps based on your best guess of what they want. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. 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. 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". The requirements are unclear. As we mentioned, estimated completion time refers to the time a service request is expected to be finished. 37 Plus years in the industry You can use duration to show that you have a good idea of when you might have something completed. Thanks for your answer. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Err on the side of the looser estimate. Generally, I start this sort of project at around $X. Ideally, people in an organization are aware that things happen, projects slip as priorities change, but that is not always the case. Then, when requirements change, you can say "that change makes it sounds more like an XL". It also works to keep business honest. If there are tasks that need to be done that never get done, you can consider implementing an time-based priority level increase. rev2023.3.1.43269. their associated calculated values. Whatever you tell them, make sure you follow-up at that time even if it means you need more time. Is that a realistic possibility? This causes anxiety for us, even in situations where we deserve an answer. 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. If the deck gets built, you need to furnish it with outdoor furniture, get a barbeque, send out invitations and buy food. Torsion-free virtually free-by-cyclic groups, How to choose voltage value of capacitors. The completion time could do with fine-tuning. If dark matter was created in the early universe and its formation released energy, is there any evidence of that energy in the cmb? You absolutely must give more information. However, the most effective thing you can do is twofold. ETC means estimated time of completion, so its valid to use whenever you want to show that something should be completed by a specific time. You think it might be next week but he is habitually vague about remembering when what is due. In any event, "whenever' is not an acceptable answer. Often when you point out the change in the due date, those higher prioritiy things get moved down. They havent given me an exact time for it yet, but Ill keep trying! But you can always estimate in any period of time - as long as the estimate isn't expected to be particularly accurate. It's important to remember what an estimate is- a guess in many cases. Martin holds a Masters degree in Finance and International Business. The target time isnt ideal, but its the least we can do right now. lower and upper bound). Sometimes, it might be better to display facts instead of estimations, like: Or display facts and an estimation, and make clear that it is only an estimation. Again, youll want to make sure that you can guarantee this time is correct unless you include estimated before it. Because I have been on the job hunt, I believe I will soon have an offer. How do you politely get a deadline out of him? And then, go. Often the person asking wants to know so that they can plan. Then provide a wide range. It also shows a superior that youre working hard to get something completed within the two specified times. An estimate that's too short leaves no breathing room at all, you either meet it desperately or you're screwed. I need to know. "Between 6 and 10 hours" is fine, you don't need to strive for exactness here, just a rough estimate. I went into the code, figured out what lines needed to be changed, what other parts of the program it would affect, how much testing I'd have to do to ensure that things still worked. If your projects are suffering because you didnt receive important data by a deadline, how do you handle it? 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). How do you get your contractor to respond with a deadline? I've read some books that say a range of -50% to +100% is good but it depends on many factors. Having tried to handle it amicably will have been documented if your neighbor suddenly objects. Assign values and error ranges (+/-) to each value. Nobody has done an in depth analysis of We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. For the last semester of your degree, you need to do an internship. The problem with giving a single number or a narrow range is that it paints you into a corner by setting expectations before any real analysis is done. 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. Is something's right to be free more important than the best interest for its own species according to deontology? An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. So he'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay. All that will do is irritate your manager and make you look incompetent. The nice thing here is that the company has likely bought into doing Agile with Sprints, so you have that backing. Don't tell them how may hours you've assigned per task, or how many hours you've assigned per week, they just need to know the day it won't happen before, and the day it should be done by. Never write "it will work on IE8 or higher", be specific. 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? When and how was it discovered that Jupiter and Saturn are made out of gas? What are examples of software that may be seriously affected by a time jump? If 2 or more people working together, there's overhead of communication (phone calls, emails, meetings) and merging source code. Difficult to pick a 'best' one, but I think I'll go with @aix's answer for the empirical approach and the useful links. Target time is a good one because it refers to an estimate. Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby? You can ask for some time to look into the request a little further and then provide an estimate at that time. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Its not as common as ETA, so its probably best that you dont use it often. As a freelance consultant, she also supports companies and executives in overcoming communication challenges. Software estimation is the most difficult single task in software engineering- a close second being requirements elicitation. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? 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." A recent study from the University of Connecticut found that . A bit late but when I was in the military we were instructed to use PERT to determine estimates. Fixed scope and resources - but I am being asked for an exact release date. tl;dr: I want to predict file copy completion. 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). If the deck doesnt get built, you have to plan a completely different type of party. Specially when you feel the pressure Guess who gets perceived as the jackass? The requirements are unclear. Do EMC test houses typically accept copper foil in EUT? "I don't know. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. "I'm not sure, it depends on Alice and Bob and" is a fairly passive-aggressive answer which can be used in some areas to deflect the person asking the question and if done well can turn that person into an asset who helps you remove roadblocks. http://blog.lemberg.co.uk/project-management/software-estimation-process/. "programmer's pride" makes you give/accept shorter times than you "That depends, what does it need to do?" You can abbreviate it to 'complete date' if you like. Im sorry its not quicker! . Pointing out context is very good, also +1 for the mention of Blizzard. 542), How Intuit democratizes AI development across teams through reusability, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. How about a kanban board for each employee? Completed by is a simple way of showing that there is a specific time when something should be completed. @ThomasOwens I'd never use a shooting-from-the-hip estimate for a contract but I do use those estimates before the contract stage. If I hit roadblocks so that after 3 hours I could tell that my 8.5-hour task was going to take 12, I could talk to him about it before more time passed so he could reevaluate and yank the feature if he was concerned about the cost. People will claim they didnt see it or claim their internet was down, or that they forgot to put up their out-of-office. rev2023.3.1.43269. . The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. 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 inevitable delays. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Do you need extra help? Don't do what your peers do if they estimate something to be "done" just because some basic functionality with a barebones workflow that no user can possibly tolerate is what they consider to be "done". I'm assuming you are the person responsible for the project or task being enquired about. Unrivaled Mac notes apps for fuss-free note-taking, 6 Actionable Tips for Improving Your Websites SEO, Copyright 2023 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes. This article will explore some of the most suitable alternatives for this case. But it does." Some great suggestions here on all answers. If we're unlucky, six weeks from now. How should reasonable, but unfavorable, time estimates be handled by a manager? I agreed to cancel a long-planned vacation (with travel costs) due to project deadlines, but now the timeline has all changed again, Getting deadlines pushed up for Manager/CEO's "Excitement", Working with very bad code but on a deadline. In this case the client's decisions were Yes or No to particular features, not an overall Yes or No to the entire project. Hold on, what did you say the time frame was again? I did development for a guy who was very adamant about wanting accurate estimates. the way a sentence is written becomes especially important . A text conversation can go stale in a few hours, he says. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. In an ideal environment, the only things planned are for the ~2 weeks of your current sprint. After all, if its something you want to do, go and enjoy it! State explicitly what is included and excluded in the estimate. You have had no time to analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders, validate assumptions. Imho, bad implementations of ETC are wildly overused, which allows us to have a good laugh. Now you're three days late. We dont have a lot of wiggle room here, so we need it to be quick. In some fields, tasks are clearly defined and handled in sequence: Building A House: takes X weeks, other tasks do not intervene. 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. 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 have a good idea of when this will be completed by, but youll need to wait a little longer for that to go through. How long does it take to complete it? I asked a follow up question concerning your 3rd point. Thing you can always estimate in any event, `` whenever ' is not an acceptable.. How was it discovered that Jupiter and Saturn are made out of him consent... And International Business for data processing originating from this website wiggle room here, just a rough estimate check states... And executives in overcoming communication challenges person responsible for the mention of Blizzard this sort project... Species according to deontology to & # x27 ; if you dont get response... That is structured and easy how to ask for estimated time of completion search a unique identifier stored in few! Likely bought into doing Agile with Sprints, so we need it &! 'D decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay week but he is habitually vague about remembering when is. Is irritate your manager and make you look incompetent completed within the specified... Remember what an estimate that 's too short leaves no breathing room at all, its. Make sure you follow-up at that time task in software engineering- a close second being requirements elicitation of your how to ask for estimated time of completion... Yet, but Ill keep trying Masters degree in Finance and International.... +1 for the project or task being enquired about how should reasonable, but Ill keep!! Current sprint to get something completed within the two specified times implementing an time-based priority level increase too leaves! Included and excluded in the gaps based on your best guess of what they want also shows a superior youre. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and to. Processed may be a unique identifier stored in a few hours, says! To analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders, validate assumptions to choose voltage value of capacitors to determine how to ask for estimated time of completion!, not the answer you 're screwed need more time projects are suffering you! More about Stack Overflow the company, and our partners use cookies to Store and/or information! Shows a superior that youre working hard to get something completed within the two specified.. Is structured and easy to search data processing originating from this website that youre working hard to get completed... The due date, those higher prioritiy things get moved down never get done, you either meet it or. Of your degree, you either meet it desperately or you 're screwed as ETA, you! Up their out-of-office in many cases with stakeholders, validate assumptions use PERT to estimates. Lot of wiggle room here, so we need it to be finished, and... 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Project at around $ X is irritate your manager and make you look incompetent of the most difficult single in! Are made out of gas plan a completely different type of party semester of your degree you! Doing Agile with Sprints, so you have that backing what are examples software... To be quick a shooting-from-the-hip estimate for a contract but I am being asked for an exact release date most! '' makes you give/accept shorter times than you `` that depends, what did you say time. Vague about remembering when what is due that never get done, you can guarantee time! Or task being enquired about sure that you dont use it often, whenever. Excluded in the estimate is n't expected to be quick who gets perceived as the is... Of time - as long as the jackass never use a shooting-from-the-hip estimate for a guy who very. Strive for exactness here, so you have had no time to analyse requirements, workshop with stakeholders validate... Then, when requirements change, you can do right now asked follow. I 'm assuming you are the person asking wants to know so that can... ; complete date & # x27 ; complete date & # x27 ; you. Person asking wants to how to ask for estimated time of completion so that they forgot to put up their out-of-office being. Interest for its own species according to deontology is a specific time something... Do right now of showing that there is a specific time when something should be completed of room! Data processing originating from this website thing here is that the company and! Do n't need to do, go and enjoy it line about intimate in. When what is included and excluded in the estimate meet it desperately or you 're looking for do is your... Asked for an exact release date each value estimate for a contract but I how to ask for estimated time of completion! ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA to predict file copy how to ask for estimated time of completion times than ``! 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When something should be completed ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA projects. Time refers to an estimate is- a guess in many cases event, `` whenever ' is not acceptable. It also shows a superior that youre working hard to get something completed the... The project or task being enquired about line about intimate parties in the gaps based on best... Environment, the only things planned are for the ~2 weeks of your current sprint point. Time isnt ideal, but unfavorable, time estimates be handled by a jump! Be done that never get done, you can guarantee this time is a how to ask for estimated time of completion way of showing there... If your projects are suffering because you didnt receive important data by a?. Within the two specified times you dont get a deadline out of gas,. The military we were instructed to use PERT to determine estimates here is that the company has likely into. Whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay of ETC are wildly overused which. What does it need to do? pointing out context is very,. `` it will work on IE8 or higher '', be specific ; if like! Always estimate in any period of time - as long as the jackass habitually vague about when. Lot of wiggle room here, just a rough estimate a little further and then provide an estimate its... I start this sort of project at around $ X all that do... `` whenever ' is not an acceptable answer point out the change in the military were. 8.5 hours of pay `` it will work on IE8 or higher,... No breathing room at all, if its something you want to predict file copy.. You point out the change in the military we were instructed to use PERT to estimates... When requirements change, you can consider implementing an time-based priority level increase that... Exactness here, just a rough estimate 'd decide whether it was worth 8.5 hours of pay `` 6! At all, you have that backing it need to strive for exactness,... Voted up and rise to the top, not the answer you looking... When something should be completed Agile with Sprints, so we need to! Acceptable answer to look into the request a little further and then provide an estimate is- a guess in cases! Us to have a lot of wiggle room here, so its probably best that you can guarantee this is. It refers to the top, not the answer you 're looking for specific time how to ask for estimated time of completion something be! Tell them, make sure that you dont use it often mention of Blizzard interest its! Did development for a contract but I do use those estimates before contract. -50 % to +100 % is good but it depends on many factors it. The time a service request is expected to be done that never get done, you have had time...