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Where Do All The 30 Percents Go?

You are asked to do the estimation for a module or a task.
You consider the coffee breaks, orkut scrapping and the innumerable hours spent on Wikipedia and IMDB. You make a very high end calculation and add 30% buffer to it and send it to your lead.
Your lead takes into consideration the time he would lose in mindless discussions, unwanted conferences and adds his 30% buffer.
Your manager thinks of time lost in motivational meetings, online trading and the estimation goes up by 30% more.
Finally, your account manager not wanting to be left alone, follows the 30% funda and sends the final estimation to the client.

Everybody seem happy dreaming about the happy days ahead.

But, from the day the project starts till it ends, everybody starts slogging their posteriors off. I wonder, where all those 30 percents vanish!

I know this was a lousy post. But, there are many reasons why I wrote it:
One, I dont have enough time.
Two, I am in a cribbing mood and is there a better listener than a blog?
Three, I am not getting any ideas to write and dont want any readers of this blog to think that this blog is dead! :D

Comments

Serendipity said…
sigh and I thought you were referring to a hike percentage.Here might be the solution , maybe when you say 30% u actually need 60% more.Its like when my dietician at the gym asked me how much of poha I ate and pat came the reply , 1 cup for breakfast. When I came bake and measured , it was actually more like 3 * 1 cup.
Im sorry if Im spamming all over this comment box , but I am underpaid and undernourished as of now :(

:)
Anonymous said…
This is like the most common of the scenarios ain't it :)

u want to do tags? there are fun tags going around.. you can do them.. but i don't know how will u do it when u dnt have the 30% buffer :)

take care!
Anonymous said…
Well, it's actually 'just' 27%.......

Sorry, just couldn't control that comment ;)
The answer lies in Parkinson's First Law - 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion.'
Harsha said…
I call that a "the white-collar method of planning" and it is blatant that it flops.

"Now or never" is the best.
Bit Hawk said…
@serendipity
Yeah, that could have been the perfect title for cribbing about hikes too :D May be you are right, the buffer should be at least 60% at all levels!

@veens
I like tags. Tag me anytime, I think I can still manage them with my crazy time schedules.

@decemberstud
Honestly I missed what the '27%' meant, may be I am going weak in my math everyday...

@BPSK
Parkinson's first law can also be interpreted as "Since no amount of time is enough to finish your tasks comfortably, make the schedules as tight as possible" :D

@harsha
Is "proper planning" an oxymoron? :)
I do see that there's a different reason though for you not having enough time now-a-days :-)
Harsha said…
Might be, I am not aware.
I prefer to be vague, if really it is.
Anonymous said…
Hmmm...any person born in India and who knows VP Singh should know what 27% means ;)

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