Biggest challengues building and estimating project schedules

Francisco Herrera, great topic!

For me, the hardest part of building schedules is managing the expectations. Stakeholders often want certainty, while in reality, estimates are always ranges. Teams lean optimistic, and then hidden dependencies or scope changes throw things off.

Something I’ve also seen (and that doesn’t get talked about enough) is the impact of multitasking. On paper, people look “100% allocated,” but in practice, context switching between projects eats into real productivity, and schedules slip quietly because of it.

What’s helped me:

Be clear upfront about the level of accuracy (early vs. detailed estimates).

Update the schedule often instead of treating it as fixed.

Build the plan with the team, not just for them.

At the end of the day, schedules are less about “perfect prediction” and more about building trust.

Thanks for sharing these valuable insights of Managing Expectations, "Being Truthful", Addressing Multitasking and Building Trust:

Building the plan with the team, rather than just for them, is crucial for fostering ownership and creating a shared understanding of the schedule's limitations.

Francisco