Accepting variability

If you cannot determine exactly how long will a task take, how are you expected to plan a project?

A different perspective can help: what if, instead of telling people when something should be complete, you tell them when to start?

By accepting that the estimated duration for a task is just that, an estimate, and expecting that it may take less or more than that, the team can focus on the execution. Your job then becomes making sure that the hand-offs from one task to the next happen smoothly and soon you’ll notice your project is moving faster than you expected.