This past week the tweets looked at the do's and don'ts for planning contigency time into the project. Here they are in case you missed one or two.We'll start with the do's for contigency time. Remember that contigency time is for unexpected events or delays andnot more requirements.

Do add buffer time after milestones. E.G: after requirements are done add 5 days for reviews and approvals to be used if more time is needed

Do look at the critical path schedule and add in additional time where appropriate.

Do use the higher end estimates for building the schedule. Don't use estimates based on using the most experienced people for the task.

Do get estimates for each task from several people and take the average. These estimates tens to be more accurate.

Do make sure that the contigency time is identified in the plan and why it was added.

Don't add extra time to each task. People may not realize that is contingency time and will tend to use it as the scheduled time

Don't assume weekends are contingency time. Weekends should always be treated as time of last resort. It's sort of a security blanket.

Don't use low end estimates for the schedule. Seldom do project's go faster than planned and this could eat into contigency time quickly.

Don't make estimates based on the time the best resources or yourself would take.

 Don't assume that you won't need contigency time. Almost all projects will experience some tasks taking longer that planned.