How can you set realistic deadlines for your team?

Setting realistic deadlines for your team is crucial for delivering quality work, satisfying your clients, and avoiding unnecessary stress. However, estimating how long a project will take is not always easy, especially in technical sales, where you have to deal with complex and dynamic requirements, dependencies, and risks. In this article, you will learn some practical tips on how to set realistic deadlines for your team, based on best practices and common sense.

1 Define the scope and objectives

The first step to setting realistic deadlines is to clearly define the scope and objectives of the project. What are you trying to achieve, and what are the deliverables and expectations of the client? How does the project align with your business goals and strategy? What are the assumptions and constraints that you have to consider? By answering these questions, you will have a better understanding of the project's requirements, priorities, and boundaries, and you will be able to communicate them effectively to your team and your client.

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Devan Sehgal

Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise Solutions | CVENT | Innovating Unique (Virtual, Hybrid & In Person) Event Experiences
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My thoughts: It starts with being real with yourself. Understand your product sales cycle, Average Deal size, DM process (infosec, procurement, legal, etc), and the ability of your people and processes. Setting achievable targets motivates salespeople and makes them more invested in you as a leader or as a business.

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Muhammad Tanveer

Hospitality Sales Leader | Favikon Ambassador 🇵🇰 | Global Top 100 Most Inspirational | Driving 25% YoY Growth | Global Top 1% in Sales | Inclusive Leadership
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Setting realistic deadlines requires a combination of careful planning, collaboration, and adaptability. By understanding the project scope, breaking it down into manageable tasks, involving the team, considering dependencies, and regularly reviewing progress, you can set deadlines that are challenging yet achievable, fostering a culture of productivity and success within your team.

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2 Break down the work and estimate the effort

The next step is to break down the work into manageable tasks and subtasks, and assign them to the appropriate team members. This will help you to identify the dependencies, resources, and skills that are needed for each task, and to avoid overlooking any important details. Then, you need to estimate the effort and time that each task will take, based on your team's experience, availability, and productivity. You can use different methods to estimate the effort, such as historical data, expert judgment, analogy, or bottom-up. The key is to be realistic and account for possible uncertainties and variations.

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Racheal Udin

Farm Manager | Customer Experience Specialist | Gaming & Payments Expert | Trainer | Agribusiness | Poultry & Catfish Farming
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Setting realistic deadlines for your team involves understanding project complexity, considering team members’ workloads, and establishing clear expectations. Begin by breaking down tasks, estimating time requirements, and identifying potential challenges. Collaborate with team members to gather input on their availability and capabilities. Factor in unexpected delays and allow some flexibility. Communicate deadlines clearly, ensuring everyone understands their role and the overall timeline. Regularly reassess and adjust deadlines as needed, fostering a realistic and achievable project timeline that promotes both productivity and employee well-being.

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3 Add buffers and contingencies

Once you have estimated the effort and time for each task, you need to add some buffers and contingencies to your deadlines. Buffers are extra time that you allocate to each task to account for unexpected delays, errors, revisions, or changes in scope. Contingencies are extra time that you reserve for the whole project to deal with risks, issues, or emergencies that may arise. The amount of buffers and contingencies that you add depends on the complexity, uncertainty, and importance of the project, as well as your team's confidence and performance. A general rule of thumb is to add 10-20% of the total time as buffers and contingencies.

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4 Review and validate the deadlines

The final step is to review and validate the deadlines that you have set for your team. You should check if the deadlines are realistic, achievable, and aligned with the project's scope and objectives. You should also consult with your team and your client to get their feedback and approval on the deadlines, and to make sure that they understand and agree with the expectations and responsibilities. By reviewing and validating the deadlines, you will increase the chances of meeting them, and you will avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or disappointments.

Setting realistic deadlines for your team is not an exact science, but a skill that you can improve with practice and experience. By following these tips, you will be able to set realistic deadlines for your team that will help you to deliver quality work, satisfy your clients, and avoid unnecessary stress.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you set realistic deadlines for your team?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define the scope and objectives

2 Break down the work and estimate the effort

3 Add buffers and contingencies

4 Review and validate the deadlines

5 Here’s what else to consider

Technical Sales

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How can you set realistic deadlines for your team?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define the scope and objectives

2 Break down the work and estimate the effort

3 Add buffers and contingencies

4 Review and validate the deadlines

5 Here’s what else to consider

Technical Sales

Rate this article

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