The Effort vs Duration Paradox

In our every day work life we are often struck by that moment...you know the one...in a meeting... when someone asks that fateful question...

"When can we expect that to be completed?"

It always makes me smile because the person asking the question already has a timeline in mind or THINKS they know how long it "should" take. That is the beginning of a series of tough discussions and negotiations.

Early in my career... studying Industrial Engineering... we learned a lot about time studies and the difference between effort and duration. This was further reinforced when we did project management which covered dependencies and milestones. Even with all that in my background it wasn't until I did global software application development at Keane that it hit home EVERY day!

You see...I learned through the school of hard knocks that most everyone estimates how long something will take based on a utopian view of what they perceive the "core tasks" to be. When that view is challenged with realistic dependencies and other implications to the timeline it can often be viewed as "padding"....procrastination or even laziness. It's not that everyone doesn't want to do things faster...it's that there are multiple steps to prepare...test and deploy that are often seen as "inconsequential" which impact the overall experience.

So let's start with the basics...

Effort (also referred to as Work) is the actual time required to complete the task.?Duration is the total amount of time in which the user has to complete the task. For example, you might have a task that only takes 2 hours to physically complete, but that task can be completed anytime over the next week.

You might ask yourself...why does something that only takes 2 hours of effort need a week to complete?

As the story goes...

We were working a a big project for a large fortune 500 company. I was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada and the client was in New York City. As it turns out... our software development team was in Hyderabad, India. It was a Friday morning and we had run out of ways we could hold the client off for the delivery of code so they could start User Acceptance Testing (UAT). The client made it very clear that we had to hit the Friday date we had re-planned and pushed over the last several weeks or they would be taking their business else where.

So a placed a call to our project manager in India after getting off the phone from a very angry client. I told him I needed something we could stand behind and what ever I told the client we HAD to hit. Our credibility was on the line and I knew things take as long as they take so just be straight up with me...how much longer was this going to take and let's deliver on that. The project manager said..."it will take 2 hours to get it completed". Incredibly I said... "Really?? 2 Hours?? I breathed a sigh of relief and said that is great news...I'll let the client know". So I called the client back and let them know it would be 2 hours...they would have it today as promised!

Can you already see where this is headed?? Here is how it went when I called the project manager back at the appointed time...

Me: "OK...are we good to go"?

Project Manager: (In a bewildered voice) "No we are not...why did you think it was ready?"

Me: (Heart sinking and starting to feel sick) "You said it would take 2 hours so I called the client back and told them the good news. It has been exactly 2 hours and they are expecting us to deliver"

Project Manager: (Now understanding the mix up and in an upbeat voice) "Ahhh...yes...2 hours of effort from the time we begin. I thought you were asking for cost and billing purposes. The developers working on this code have all gone home for the weekend...so we will not be able to start until next week. Once they are back in the office it will only take 2 hours."

Me: "Ugh!" (Speechless...and ready to black out)

I called the client back...took my lumps and the blame for the mix up. We managed to eventually smooth it over. Luckily I had a good relationship with the client contact and a good reminder that honestly is always the best policy.

In Closing...

Maybe it is the roots of Industrial Engineering that are so seared in my being at this point...or all the lessons learned from Keane that I am hyper sensitive to the concept of effort versus duration each and every day.

Even something simple like travel (not that we do much of that these days) proves the point. A flight from Phoenix to London may be 10 hours if you can get a non-stop flight. Now a days direct flights are hard to come by...they don't depart every day of the week... and it could take up to 65 hours to get there (yes... there is one for that long on google flights with only 2 stops - Crazy!) But...that isn't all that goes into it! For example....you need a passport and if it's expired it takes time to renew. You need to pack...make hotel reservations...get to the airport hours in advance. If the inbound flight is delayed or the plane has mechanical problems you can't depart on time. If you are in the air and there is weather or problems in London you may have to be diverted to another airport and take another form of transportation to get there. On....and on...and on. I don't know how long it truly takes to get to London from Phoenix these days but it isn't 10 hours from now!

While this all may sound simple...I have no doubt that you can relate. The next time someone gives you a deadline that doesn't seem to match your expectations....pause and embrace the effort versus duration paradox. Probe a little more...seek first to understand and come to common ground. Ignoring it won't make it go away. Or as I like to say lately....if it makes you feel better you can "Make up the game and the points won't matter". In other words...you can throw out whatever date you want...it doesn't make it true.

Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU:

• What are YOUR thoughts...observations or perspective on the effort versus duration paradox?
• How do YOU ensure that when you are asking for deadlines that you are aware of all that goes into completing the task?
• As a leader...how can you set up YOUR team for success to break down barriers or obstacles and create that balance between pushing them to get things done sooner versus truly immovable objects?
• Can YOU think of a scenario recently where you only thought of the effort for one core task and as a result completely missed a deadline? What will you do differently going forward to ensure you are a better estimator?

Thanks for reading and remember...YOU make a difference!

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