When the customer wants a schedule

• Milestone 1 - Project initiation: Timing should always be based on the time of commissioning. If the customer delays the decision, the schedule is postponed accordingly.

• Milestone 2 - Acceptance of the requirements specification: The duration of requirements management depends heavily on the scope of the requirements and the customer's willingness to cooperate. A disruptive flow of information can significantly delay the start of the project.

• Milestone 3 - Implementation: The work packages in Leadtime are stored with estimated costs that reflect the total project effort. An example: The work packages of a project total 400 hours. If a developer is scheduled full-time for this project, the duration is around ten weeks (160 working hours per month). With a reserve of two weeks, this results in a total implementation time of around three months.

• Milestone 4 - Test phase: At the end of the project, the system should be tested intensively both internally and by the customer - including functional tests, integration tests and user acceptance tests. We recommend allocating at least 15% of the implementation period to the test phase.

Find a compromise with the customer

• Deadline has priority: If meeting the deadline is the customer's top priority, we recommend developing the project plan backwards from the deadline. Think about which steps need to be completed by when. If additional resources are required, either the price must increase - or the scope must be reduced for the go-live.

• Budget has priority: If the customer has defined the budget as the top priority, planning should be consistently trimmed for efficiency. Start the project when sufficient capacity is available to implement it with minimal effort.

• Quality has priority: If a realistic budget has been planned and there is no hard deadline, we recommend that you add generous buffers to the schedule - this way you can ensure quality and avoid unnecessary stress.