An engineer's tussle with the time estimation planning guide
As engineers and responsible individuals, you must have come across the question of time estimation innumerable times. You would have witnessed projects which initially were supposed to take 2 days to complete but went on for a period of 4 months. Such haywires in time estimation can lead to serious implications when businesses come into the picture.
When engineers estimate time, they talk about the minimum time in which a working prototype can be prepared. On the other hand, the managers, the PMs, the PR and everybody else, refer to the time when the project will be well-prepared for launch, which is an entirely different story! In such cases, with slight differences, the loophole widens.
Keeping the practical case in mind, time estimation is essential for engineers. Not only is it important for your personal growth but it is also vital for the company you are working for. Even though mastering time estimation is a lifelong journey for engineers, you must work on it to get proficient. Your expertise in this domain will make you stand apart and get you acquainted with professionalism, quality work and stability.
But why do you need to estimate time?
When dealing with time estimation planning, you often overlook the factors which have their strings attached with this skill. The two governing attributes we’d like you to reflect upon are: External dependencies and prioritization.
External dependencies:
Projects are often linked with sub-factors which directly affect the duration of work. Factors like coordination with engineering and non-engineering teams (finance, customer support, PR, etc.) play a significant role here. The synchronization with these respective teams lie in the hands of the PM or the CEO. This implies that engineers aren’t the only ones accountable for the differences in the expected and actual time durations.
Prioritization:
Prioritizing work is an indispensable segment of time estimation. If you, as an engineer, do not estimate time beforehand, you might end up spending a lot more time on trivial issues than on handling the major ones. There might be instances where the feature you’re working on might be changing element for your website. But if you look at it in-depth and estimate the time required to finish it entirely, it will take a lot longer than the expected time.
Your time estimation planning guide 101
Now that you’ve figured the importance of time estimation, you need to figure out ways in which you can take charge of this primary skill. In addition to changing the approach that you have when estimating time for a particular project, you also need to work on the following aspects to bring about a considerable difference.
The technical plan
Having a technical plan is crucial for any project that you begin with. Being an ideal place to start the estimate, working on the technical part will help you iron your project out and fill in the gaps. You might need to break down a lengthy procedure into smaller steps or work on unwanted lag. This will help in understanding the unknowns and adding essential libraries or guides to your project, in turn, making it efficient.
The time estimate on each step and a little extra time!
While laying the foundations of time estimation for your project, working on individual steps will give you bonus time on your hands. With detailed research, it will help in resolving the issues regarding the nature of the project. It'll shed light on every step, giving you a rough estimate of the required time.
Parallelly, it is vital to add a little extra time in your estimation. This will primarily include the time required for debugging, interviews, meetings, final testing and reviewing the code. Considering these factors and devoting time on each of these will help in curating a time estimate far more accurate than all your previous estimates. Once you jot these down and look at the actual picture, you’ll realise that the time required will be a lot more than what you’d have initially expected.
Reviewing estimate
After having launched the project, you must look back at your time estimate and list down the areas where you failed. Figure out the pain points and the areas where your estimation went wrong. It is necessary to assess your estimate to create a better one the next time you’re assigned a project. Every assessment will lead to a significant improvement in your consecutive time estimate.
In the end, to launch a project, communication is important. The manager must know a month prior to the end date, that the project at hand will require more time for completion than what was initially estimated. He’ll then be able to communicate it to the other teams and postpone the launch effectively. Also, you must make the time estimate clear to your manager, making him understand the fissures and the loopholes which might hinder the growth of your project work.
Even though it sounds tough, time estimation can be mastered with careful observation. Uncertain as it is, time is a dubious thing to deal with. If handled wisely, you might actually learn the art of tackling it. The pool is endless. You just need to find the right life jacket to make it to the other edge. Good luck!