Estimate effort and identify dependencies
Unit ID: AIT-M09-U02 Estimated active time: 15-20 minutes
The main idea
Effort estimates are guesses unless checked against real context.
An estimate is a statement about your organisation, not about the task. The same work takes an hour in one place and a fortnight in another.
Why this matters
Estimates get quoted. A number produced as a rough guide becomes a commitment once it has been written in a plan someone else read.
Safe example
A tool suggests one day for a task that needs approval from another person.
The work is a day. The elapsed time is however long the approver takes, and that is the number that matters.
Better working habit
Ask for assumptions behind estimates.
"This assumes no approval is needed and the content already exists" is more useful than the estimate itself.
What to watch for
Do not treat AI time estimates as commitments.
Where an estimate goes into a plan others will read, mark it as an estimate and say what it assumes.
Mini practice
Add assumptions and dependencies to a plan.
Then find the estimate that changes most once its assumption is corrected.
Check yourself
Before moving on, answer:
- What does each estimate assume?
- Which estimate is elapsed time and which is effort?
- Has any guess been quoted as a commitment?