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Project Management & Agile · Intermediate

Parkinson's Law

The observation that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Definition

Padded estimates tend to be consumed fully, which is one reason critical chain removes individual task padding and agile uses timeboxes.

Example

A task estimated at 10 days takes 10 days even though it needed 6.

Exam tip

Often paired with student syndrome in questions about padding.

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