How do I know how long does it take to finish a task at work?

Hello,

Great question! I agree with the advice provided by the other experts to use your best judgement, subdivide a larger task into smaller sub-tasks, and to learn over time. The one thing I wanted to add on this is that you should feel open to talk to your manager about time expectations if this is a point of confusion. For instance, if the manager is asking you to provide a time estimate for a task that you haven't done before, you can be upfront about your lack of expertise in that specific area. You could also flip the question to the manager and ask how long they would expect this task to take you. That way, if the manager tells you it should take 30 mins and it is taking you several hours, this might be a sign that you are not doing something in the most efficient way (alternatively, if you are much quicker than expected it could be that you are cutting some corners). It's always best to be candid with these estimates so that you and your manager both have realistic expectations.

Hi there,

Good question. Some possible tips:

• Use past experience as a benchmark. If you use tools such as those mentioned by Ian you could do this more easily
• Divide the task into subtasks, then estimate the time required for each and sum up
• Start the task, measure the progress, update the initial estimate based on the time required for the 1st subtask

For the very initial estimate is always good to have a time adjustment (eg if you think it takes x, approximate to 1.5x or 2x to account for unexpected needs).

Best,

Francesco

1. Break you task into pieces
2. Estimate how much each piece should take
3. Estimate completion rate (%)
4. Then adjust for "excess optimism” factor, i.e., do things take usually 2x what you initially estimate? If that is the case, then start factoring in 2x into your estimate (if you don't have much previous experience doing this kind of estimates, 2x is actually a good starting point).

Hope this helps!

Hi there,

This is a super important skill to learn! Setting expectations and meeting promises is key to success.

Here are a few tips:

1. Moving forward, estimate everything. Write down your estimate for everything (all pieces of work, cooking, etc.). Then, when done, look back on estimates. See how close you were
   1. Jira/ServiceNow are obvious ways to do this in a project management/work setting
2. Related to #1, use a site like toggle to track hours (click start when you start and stop when you stop)
3. Break the work down into segments. Think about how long each portion will take, then add it up!
4. Find parallels. Think about how long a similar piece of work took in the past. Think about to what extent this piece is harder/easier, then adjust based on that

Good luck!

Very good tips from other coaches already. Two additional inputs from me:

• Talk to your peers/colleagues (who have been in the firm longer) and get an idea from them, based on their experience
• In most consulting firms, somebody in some office must have done something similar to what you are trying to do. So, you don't start from scratch. Reach out to the wider network to get a head start on the task

Took me a while to figure this out myself - the solution is 3-fold:

• Eventually, the judgment comes with practice, over time. So have patience. Keep learning from your time estimates.
• Try estimating the time in terms of # of slides, # of benchmark companies etc. etc. Something where you can assign a smaller time and quantify.
• Approach this from the other way around - by timeboxing. Once you have announced an arbitrary estimate for the work - try to work backwards and see how you can finish the task in that much time. This will not only start giving you a more realistic estimation capability much quickly - but will also help you actually do things in a much shorter time than normal.