--Better Estimating through Time Studies--

I'm haggling with a co-worker about how long it will take to do something (a repetitive procedure that is worked on weekly, throughout the course of the week). We are not getting anywhere with our haggling (of course we both think we are correct )...

So, I'm going to keep track of how long I spend on what this week (exciting, eh?) by recording the times in a spreadsheet. We'll take a look next week and see who was correct -- I mean which estimate was correct.

Sometimes keeping a quick journal (paper, Excel, whatever) of what time is spent on what is enough to get you a bit more perspective on how long (or little) you spend working on what. The recorded times usually surprises people.

Remember that the basis of estimates is previous experience. *Recorded* experience can help guide future estimates.

--When do you pull the plug?--

One of my co-workers was trying to get back from Charlotte (to O'Hare) this evening. The weather was predicted to be horrible at O'Hare including tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, and hail (I know that is a bit redundant, but the hail is what supposedly canceled all the flights). At 2pm Charlotte-time all flights up to 8pm were canceled and the 8pm one was the only one left. I suggested he just cut his losses and go get a hotel room, have a nice dinner, and get a good night's rest because there was a good chance his flight would be canceled.

It was. But not until 9:30pm his time. (So he waited at the airport from 2pm until 9:30pm to find out what we both suspected -- they would cancel his flight...)

So at what point do you cut your losses and just give up on something?

I think it is human nature to hold on to hope that a situation will turn itself around, but how to balance that with common sense? I suppose part of it is based on experience. I have been doing business travel for 22+ years. I know the signs... And there is the desire to "get home" that might cloud judgment.

I guess the only advice I can give about this is if you have a gut-hunch that the airline is going to cancel your flight, AND you have "status" with the airline, cut your losses and ask to be re-booked on the next day's flight. I'm told you want to be on the earlier flights if possible, but from my perspective, if that means getting up at 5am, the heck with that...

I guess this has a broader business application: be self-aware of your situation to know when to cut your losses and change your approach. The weather -- and many other things -- are totally out of your control.

--Is a small effort a project?--

One of my students recently asked if creating something for her office, by herself (a one-person team), was a project. Of course I said yes.

How can a one-person effort be a project? Well a project is any effort that has a defined start, a defined end (or deadline), a defined goal, and has resources involved. Remember that resources are anything that help you finish a task: people, machines, money, permits, etc.

Even when working on something yourself, you usually have to give some type of status or report how close to finished you are. You can't really tell how close to finish you are without some type of plan. In order to do a plan, you have to clearly define the goal.

So I would argue that any effort where you:

1. Clearly define the goal (and perhaps what the goal *is not*)
2. Plan your work (to-do list, steps, major deliverables)
3. Manage that work to meet expectations (budget, deadline, quality standards)

...is a project!