Setting Realistic Deadlines
We were out for a team lunch the other day and the server said our food would be along in 10 minutes. That deadline came and went. We were waiting another 15 minutes before there was any sign of our meals.
In that context, a missed deadline didn’t really spoil our enjoyment. We had plenty of things to discuss and it’s great to get together in person – another 15 minutes to chat was kind of an advantage! But in many project-based situations, it’s really important to have realistic deadlines and to be able to communicate these effectively to stakeholders.
Deadlines are everywhere in project management. From fixed milestones to the requirement to submit papers to decision-making committees so they can be circulated in advance, every week we are up against deadlines to get stuff done. Unrealistic deadlines can go two ways:
- The team burns out trying to hit the deadline; miracles happen and it is achieved but at a high cost
- The deadline can’t be met and that results in delays and reputational damage.
So, setting the team up to fail with an unrealistic deadline is definitely something you’ll want to avoid. In this article, we’ll share some tips for setting achievable deadlines while taking into account the complexities of real-world project work.
Use accurate estimates
I know, estimating accurately is tough. But if you want your deadlines to be realistic, you have to be able to estimate with confidence. Work with the team, use subject matter experts, and bring in historical data from past projects. Use estimation techniques like PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) or Monte Carlo simulations to give you greater depth to your estimating methodology.
Account for resource availability
One of the things that trips up project managers when it comes to delivering on time is not having the available resources. Perhaps it takes longer to recruit someone than you expected. Perhaps you have a hiring freeze that hits at an unfortunate time. Maybe a colleague goes off sick unexpectedly and there isn’t anyone else who can pick up the work.
When setting deadlines, factor in resource availability. If you’re colleagues (or equipment) are only available part-time, this can impact how long tasks will take. Look into resource levelling to ensure that you are taking capacity into account when working out your deadlines.
Use milestones and phases
Break down a project into smaller, manageable phases, chunks or stages. Whatever you want to call them, it’s easier to track progress against small, frequent milestones than it is against a large bucket of work. Use interim milestones along the way to help the team focus in on the sub-tasks that will help them hit the final deadline.
If you take nothing else from this article, have a look at your schedule and see if you can add in more milestones at relevant points. Working with smaller chunks of work really does help reduce the risk of over-promising on a long project.
Add in buffer time
Scheduling experts are often conflicted about the use of buffer time. Should you artificially pad the estimates to allow extra time? Or should you rely on the expertise of your estimators? Whatever you personally choose to do, it’s worth knowing about buffer time so you can bring it in if and when it is relevant to the tasks at hand.
Buffer time is additional time added to a task, group of tasks or the project overall. You will also hear it called contingency. It’s designed to offset any unforeseen risk or potential problems hit along the way. It’s often used where confidence in estimates is lower than normal or a task carries a higher than normal chance of risk. Here are some tasks where you would consider adding buffer time:
- The delivery of goods from overseas where the supply chain can be affected by global events or poor weather.
- The technical build of a new piece of software functionality when the team has not had to do anything like that before and are learning as they go.
- The integration of two devices that have not previously been integrated.
- Anything that relies on external supplier resource where you have not been given a dedicated resource or a strong commitment that resource is available on the exact dates you need it.
Meanwhile, of course, you can work on reducing the risk level of those tasks by, for example, placing the order earlier so there is more time for the goods to arrive in the country. But while you are scheduling in the early phases of the project, it’s likely you’d want to build in some contingency. It can always be removed later when you have more confidence in the team’s ability to complete the task to the deadline.
Add in time for review and changes
There is always the need to learn lessons, reflect and review and make changes. Sometimes the changes are as a result of scope change or the client asking for something different. Sometimes they are internally-driven. However, projects are rarely static and having the time in the schedule to allow for changes will help you create realistic deadlines.
Balance pressure and productivity
Deadlines create psychological pressure: what will happen if we don’t hit the date? Overly ambitious deadlines can lead a team to burnout, or to producing work that’s a lower quality than expected simply to hit the date.
Conversely, a deadline that is too far in the future won’t be motivating at all. Chances are, the team will leave it to nearer the time to begin work and that might not be enough. Deadline setting is a balance, because you want to create that sense of urgency without overwhelming the team. You want to balance stakeholder expectations without putting undue pressure on the team or caving to a senior leader’s demand when you know it’s unrealistic.
Focus on creating a positive culture around milestone setting where dates are seen as collaborative goals. Keep sharing progress and issues in a transparent way so if deadlines do need to move, stakeholders understand the rationale for that and trust that you are doing the best job you can.