Make a workable team delivery plan
Separate uncertainty, dependency timings and people availability before committing to a deadline.
This is an invented scenario for learning, not a customer story. All amounts use one unspecified currency.
The question to resolve
A transparent estimate and a resource check, not a guaranteed delivery date.
- An agreed task list
- Predecessor relationships
- Available hours for the same planning period
Describe uncertainty first
The three estimates give about 4.33 days expected duration and a one-day standard deviation for one uncertain task. This is a separate estimation exercise, not a probability of finishing the whole network.
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- optimistic
2
- likely
4
- pessimistic
8
Inspect the dependency network
Brief → Build → Release takes seven elapsed project days. Review has one day of slack. The network uses supplied working durations and has no holiday calendar or resource leveling.
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- items
ID,Days,Dependencies Brief,2, Review,3,Brief Build,4,Brief Release,1,Review|Build
Check people capacity separately
The heuristic assigns 18 hours to Ada and six to Sam. Neither exceeds the supplied period capacity. This separate workload check does not automatically prove the seven-day dependency schedule is feasible.
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- people
Person,AvailableHours Ada,20 Sam,10
- items
Task,Hours Build package,12 Review package,6 Release preparation,6
Make the handoff explicit
Review the assumptions before adapting these figures. A calculated result is not an order, invitation, accepted quotation or guaranteed deadline. Save your own copy before leaving; no work is stored automatically.
Read the related explanations
PRACTICAL GUIDERead critical-path slack before checking team capacity
Work through a branching task network and see why a dependency schedule is not a staffing plan.
Read the guide
PRACTICAL GUIDEUse a decision matrix to expose assumptions, not hide them
Choose consistent score directions, test weights and distinguish close rankings from strong conclusions.
Read the guide