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Is there a % used as a standard buffer in Project Management?

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Level 1
Hi All, I am on a team that actively uses Workfront, however, we are running into some issues with building in buffer time for projects and tasks. Is there an industry standard for buffer time often used in Project Management? I am a Workfront End User and not a PM. I am also often of the receiving end of no buffer time, so would like to offer some solutions to our PM team if there is such a thing used industry-wide. I do manage some smaller-scale projects and would like to build this in if there are any recommendations from the community. If you have any articles to refer to I'd love to see them too. Thank you in advance for your help!! Mikey Plannett
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Level 8
I've been a PM for a few decades. It's generally given as falling between 10% and 20%. I'd always ask for a 20% buffer and negotiate less if necessary. I've also found that you should always give a worse case scenario not a range, btw. The project will take 30 weeks, +/1 20% looks fine in the first status report, but into the fourth month start reporting that it will finish on the 34th week and everyone is up in arms. Pointing out it's within 20% of 30 weeks and your sponsors feel like you've been actively planning to hoodwink them all along. One large organisation I worked for had three stages of a project, with narrowing contingency at each stage gate. From memory it was 20% / 10% / 5%. They also had a very robust risk framework, so for each risk you identified you could present to the sponsor defined triggers (e.g. exchange rate moves above x), and if that trigger occurred you could get finance to add the contingency funds to your budget without any approvals - the sponsor had pre-approved by accepting the risk and trigger. I also worked in one organisation where contingency was agreed on between the sponsor and the PM, and then split - so if you had 4 weeks contingency, the PM got 2 and the sponsor got 2. Sponsor can't get staff to perform UAT on time? They draw on their contingency. Sub-contractor misses deadline? PM calls on their contingency. The Project plan had four distinct week long contingency tasks scattered through it, and you removed them, reschedule them, decreased durations etc. as needed - so the delivery date always had contingency built in, and if you didn't use it you finished early. For a complex reference, try "https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/contingency-are-covered-6099" https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/contingency-are-covered-6099 Barry Buchanan - WMA Work Management Australia

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Level 1
Hey Barry, Thank you so much for the info and reply. I'll dig in a little more on the pmi.org article but your perspective is incredibly helpful! Best, Mikey Mikey Plannett Whole Foods Market Services, Inc.