|
Scheduling for Results
It's typical to overestimate what you can accomplish in a
day, and then underestimate what you can accomplish in a
year.
Effective scheduling demands knowing how long a task
takes.
But, it's impossible to be precise if you've never done it
before. So start with a guesstimate. And then, keep track of
how long the work takes so you can plan more effectively in
the future.
Revise your schedule as you become more accurate in
estimating time.
Highlight the dependent projects on your to-do list: the
ones that can't be started until a previous task is
finished. Line them up so they flow into a sequence, noting
how long each step will take.
Schedule backwards from your deadline, being sure to give
yourself wiggle room for unforeseen circumstances. If you
know the last step will only take three days, give it
another day or so. Build in reporting dates and
benchmarks.
Ask yourself: where do you need to be 30 days out from
deadline? 60 days out?
Fill in the slow times with anytime projects, those that are
independent of the rest of the tasks but still need to be
done.
Continue working backwards, including dependent tasks and
the anytime projects, until the schedule is filled in.
At this point it may be time to panic. You'll realize you
should have started three months ago last Tuesday to finish
by your deadline.
Welcome to the world of too much to do, too little time. The
hard question to ask is what can go?
At this point, most consultants advise: you can have it
cheap, you can have it great, you can have it fast.
Choose
two.
Do a quick assessment to decide what you can let slip, cost,
quality, or time. Make the adjustments and get to
work!
________
630 words
Patricia Wiklund Ph.D., author, consultant, and coach works with 1Person Business owners who want to grow their businesses by getting and staying focused, maximizing their sales and marketing efforts, and delivering premier services to their target markets. Information on her coaching services and on-line product catalogue can be found at www.1PersonBusiness.com.
An electronic version of
this article is available if you wish to reprint or repost
it. Please contact Dr. Pat Wiklund for permission to
reprint, and to see if there is a royalty required for
reprint. If permission is granted, we request a hard copy of
the publication in which the article appears. We request you
include Pat's bio at the end of the piece, along with
contract information, and preferably, a photo. We'll happily
supply a 5x7 black and white or color photo if you can use
it.
Back to Articles
List
|
