+++
title = "Realistic deadlines"
publishDate = 2022-09-30T00:00:00+02:00
lastmod = 2024-11-18T20:09:30+01:00
tags = ["projectmanagement", "work"]
categories = ["business"]
draft = false
meta = true
type = "list"
[menu]
  [menu.posts]
    weight = 3005
    identifier = "realistic-deadlines"
+++

Recently a wrote an after-action report on a project that failed to materialize for a number of reasons. The details are irrelevant - whether it worked or not would be an afterthought given its consequences in other places.

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One of the key skills of a great project manager is to set realistic timelines. If this imaginary PM sets them badly, it is very easy to see how this can rapidly snowball.

Suppose you have two projects, both happening in parallel, and a delay of one day - let's say something broke and requires fixing.

It means you'll only spend one day catching up on the project that was delayed, but also you'll also incur an additional day's delay on the other project, because you were busy cleaning up the mess.

That's a two day delay, from a single project's issue.

Now, if you have multiple projects, this snowballs to the point where each additional project carries its own penalty in the same way.

Imagine if a company has 10 projects they are working on, and someone gets sick for a few (let's say 3) days. If there is little capacity for someone else to pick up the slack, that's...

1.  A three day delay on the first project.
2.  A six day delay on the second project.
3.  A nine day delay on the third project.
4.  A twelve day delay on the fourth project.
5.  A fifteen day delay on the fifth project, and so on.

To keep things moving, it is not at all necessary to 'speed things up' or 'crunch' or other inhumane things. The simple, natural and most Zen solution is to _take these delays into account._

For each additional project that you take, add a few days time to the deadlines of **all** projects.

So that if someone is sick and out, that's not a problem. They can come back when they're all good and ready, and everything is still perfectly on time.

If you add a week's time for each additional project you're working on, you're easily safe, on time, and with no additional issues. And what I mean here is, for EVERY project add (number-of-projects x 1week) on top of the expected timeline to completion.

Of course, this can create issues when you sell to customers that want the shiny thing 'now now now,' but if they're flush with money... hey we have time to spare on additional work for a pretty penny too!

Work that we wouldn't be able to accept if we were promising tight deadlines and crunching to meet them.

A better opportunity comes along sooner than expected. Take it easy.