Starting a new corporate job

mark14141414

mark14141414

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Hey guys, I have question for those who work or worked for a corporate job making Wordpress websites, ecommerces, a bit of programming.

"Didn't even sign official contract yet lol"

They are asking me to estime the time it is going to take me to finish this project.
The project includes me getting familiar with the set-up, connect to the environment/backend "its Wordpress but custom theme I think" and making "in my opinion" small template changes.
I have to add search in the header/menu, add a new menu item. Only one page has to be changed.
The client wants this to be done by 15th March.

I never did estimations like this before

How long do you think this should take in reality and on paper?
 
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I know that alone is not the perfect situation, but look something called planning poker.

You will break your work into pieces. Then you will go through the "tasks" estimating the difficult of 'em...

I think it can be easier to estimate...
 
It's called 'Time & Motion' but the mistake people make to impress their boss is to work flat out and do the job in the quickest time. Down side is they then expect every other job to be done as quick.
 
MisterF said:
It's called 'Time & Motion' but the mistake people make to impress their boss is to work flat out and do the job in the quickest time. Down side is they then expect every other job to be done as quick.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I'm asking here haha ;)
 
MisterF said:
It's called 'Time & Motion' but the mistake people make to impress their boss is to work flat out and do the job in the quickest time. Down side is they then expect every other job to be done as quick.
Click to expand...

This exactly. "Under promise, over deliver" means you can do it in 6 weeks, you quote 9, and deliver it in 8.
 
This could be done really quickly depending how the back-end was build or in this case the "custom" theme.

Client has no knowledge, employer yes probably.

I usually too tell my clients it'll take more than I'm expecting this way I have some room to wiggle and if at the end I charge my clients less they are happy.
But here I'm actually working for somebody.. for instance , I cannot tell them it'll take me 2 hours because just like MisterF said they'll always expect me to work at my 120 capacity which is impossible.

Also the changes to that website seem small but the client is giving us like a month..
 
mark14141414 said:
This could be done really quickly depending how the back-end was build or in this case the "custom" theme.

Client has no knowledge, employer yes probably.

I usually too tell my clients it'll take more than I'm expecting this way I have some room to wiggle and if at the end I charge my clients less they are happy.
But here I'm actually working for somebody.. for instance , I cannot tell them it'll take me 2 hours because just like MisterF said they'll always expect me to work at my 120 capacity which is impossible.

Also the changes to that website seem small but the client is giving us like a month..
Click to expand...


If you can do it if pushed in 2 hours, or comfortably in 3 hours, tell them 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Just don't take the piss.


Then deliver it between 3 and 3 1/4. Keep in mind if your boss can ask another person or co- worker who says 2-3 , then you might have problems.


I trialled 3 freelancers to do the exact same task a few months back. 1 did everything in 4 hours the works was very good. Another said it took 4 1/2 hours and the final delivered report was sloppy and I had to get it send across in a zip format. Third did it and said it was 6 1/4 hours ( but only billed me 6 hours ), the work was good ( on a par with the first guy )

I rehired the first guy and he's my go to guy for this specific work.
The second person would be my back up.
The third took the piss.
 
It would take max 2 hours and on paper 3-4 hours .. if your familiar with Wordpress .. =)
 
Thanks guys for the input, gotta see the back-end of the custom theme first that's the only variable that will determine the speed of work.
 
MisterF said:
It's called 'Time & Motion' but the mistake people make to impress their boss is to work flat out and do the job in the quickest time. Down side is they then expect every other job to be done as quick.
Click to expand...
100% Right, tell them you wikldo it the best you can!
 
Like MisterF said.. If you can do the job in 2 hours, tell them 4 hours and deliver in 2.5h+. Why you might think? Delivering early makes your clients happy and that additional time gives you time to review everything so there are no issues and almost always something goes wrong so you have time to fix it.
 
This is how it went down:
1- Client sits with graphic designer for about 1h
2- Designer hands it over to programming
3- Programming does the job in about 3h
4- Programming sends it to server admins
5- Up and running in less than 15min
6- Cash in a minimum of 900$ per Webstore
 
You should definitely tell them that you'll take longer than you usually do. Don't trust any of your predictions, always overshoot. Besides, there's no better feeling than delivering before the due date. Good luck with that.
 
How long? I think that it depends on your action plan, I mean if you have a dedicated team that everyones know what he should do, and you just sent them the instructions, shouldn't take more than a 1 week. If you do it yourself.. it will be hard to estimate
 
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