Estimated Time To Complete (ETC)

Term Definition

Estimated time to complete is a projection of the time and or effort required to complete a project activity. Estimated time to complete is a value that is expressed in hours of work required to complete a task or project.

During the initial stages of project planning one of the main objectives is to get a realistic estimation of time to complete. Estimating the time to complete is one component of the project plan. Estimating the time to complete will assist with resource, cost and time planning. You can use the work breakdown structure to facilitate estimation. You can review the tasks at the bottom of the work breakdown structure and look for the longest path through the sequence diagram. You can then use experience from previous projects to estimate the time it will take to complete the tasks. Having access to usable data is a key element of accurately estimating time to complete. For example, let’s assume that you are the project manager for the construction of a new home. The home will require laying a foundation for a 1300 square foot home. You review data from previous construction projects that required a foundation, and see that the task has taken four days to complete on past projects. Thus, in your project plan you can estimate the time of completion as four days. In this same way you can use past data to estimate the time of completion of an entire project.

In the absence of historical data or experience you would have to guesstimate, which is inefficient and error prone. To develop a schedule, all of the tasks and estimates are placed in a calendar. The calendar would include a specified time period, identify resources and their allocation, how much time the task is expected to take and when each task is scheduled to start and finish.

Area of Application
Project Management
Project Plan