Pad Your Time Estimates
I didn’t “get it” when my father gave me this tip many eons ago. But as usual, he was right:
“No matter how much time you think it’ll take you to finish a job, double it.”
OK, so I don’t actually double my time estimates, whether for prospective clients or for my own time management information, but my pop’s point was clear. We always underestimate. Pad it. Period.
I actually pad by a third to a half of what I estimate it’ll take me to finish a task, depending on what I’m supposed to be doing. Some people only do a quarter, while others go the full doubling (in other words, a 100% increase).
To each his own, and experience is what teaches us by how much to pad by. If you’re just starting out, I suggest you start with a 50% pad then adjust accordingly, more or less.
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2 Responses to “Pad Your Time Estimates”
By James Chartrand - JCM Enterprises on Nov 14, 2007 | Reply
I find that when people are asked to provide time estimates, they come up with a “perfect world” figure - and sometimes worse. They underestimate the time involved to purposely look good in the eyes of the asker.
“Oooh… Probably less than six hours,” the person quietly offers, inwardly wincing and hoping the buyer doesn’t think them slow, stupid or incompetent.
Or they underestimate their own abilities. They *think* they can do it in four hours, but the reality is that they can do it in four hours if they work at warp speed - which they don’t.
I prefer not to use the word “padding”, though. “Cautious” and “rough” estimates are far more appealing.
By Wordpreneur on Nov 15, 2007 | Reply
Hello James… we all know how consistently perfect the world is, don’t we?
I do like that “to look good” angle. Interesting.
Other terms you can use: buffer, safety net, hedge