Project estimates and accepted deadlines for delivery
Example: A designer estimates three days after receiving files. The customer wants Friday delivery before its files will arrive.
Use estimates with their conditions. Use accepted deadlines for commitments, and identify missing prerequisites.
This article is from Righthand. The story and result are illustrative.
Two records with different meanings
A project estimate gives an expected work period.
An accepted deadline gives the team's agreed delivery commitment.
The customer's situation
A designer estimates three days after receiving files. The customer wants Friday delivery before its files will arrive.
The owner gives the Righthand the identified source material and relevant contacts. A Righthand is an assistant with email, text, phone, and Slack communication. Introduction.
The request to the Righthand
Compare the supplied estimate conditions and customer deadline.
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Send the missing file prerequisite.
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Contact the customer about the approved decision question.
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Send the owner the result in this conversation.
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Get approval before you change an accepted commitment.
The assistant reads the sources for their different meanings. It compares the relevant facts and sends the difference to the owner.
If the request permits contact, the assistant sends the identified question to the supplied recipient. Send the reply to the person responsible for the decision.
An illustrative result
The three-day estimate starts after file receipt. Friday has no accepted plan from the supplied information.
The lead gives a decision about a delivery offer before giving a commitment.
Set access and authority for the actual task
Supplied source material can be sufficient for the first procedure. For direct account access, a connection with the applicable operation and Righthand access is necessary. Connections.
For an external action, identify the recipient and task. Ask uses an explicit instruction or approval. Connection tool permissions are another required control. Communications Policy.
Try the difference with one case
- Give the assistant one example of each source.
- Include a difference that affects the task.
- Compare the returned difference with both sources.
- Make sure that the test recipient receives a permitted message.
- Examine the work in Activity.
A satisfactory result must keep the difference and identify the next owner decision. It must not silently replace one source with the other.
When another approach is sufficient
A direct record or a human review can be sufficient when it gives the answer and no further conversation is necessary. A Righthand is an alternative when you want responsibility for the next information request and decision handoff.