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Accurate budgeting is a fundamental part of running a successful clinical trial. It ensures that your site can cover all necessary expenses, manage resources effectively, and meet the financial expectations set by sponsors. One often overlooked aspect of budgeting is accurately estimating how long tasks take to complete. Knowing how much time each task will take is not only key to managing your team’s workflow but also critical for creating more accurate, efficient budgets.

In this article, we’ll explore why it’s important to track task times and how you can use time estimates to improve your budgeting process, optimise site operations, and ensure that trial costs align with real-world execution.

Step 1: Break the Task Down into Smaller Components

The first step in estimating task completion time is to break the task down into smaller, more manageable components. This helps you identify the individual steps involved, making it easier to estimate time for each step and avoid underestimating the total time required.

For example, let’s say the task is to prepare a participant for a visit. This task might involve several smaller components:

  • Verifying participant details in the system
  • Preparing the exam room
  • Reviewing the informed consent with the participant
  • Completing participant paperwork
  • Coordinating any necessary tests or procedures

By breaking the task down into these smaller components, you can focus on estimating time for each individual part, which will provide a more accurate total time for the task.

Step 2: Time Each Component

Once you’ve broken down the task, the next step is to estimate how long it takes to complete each component. There are two main ways to estimate the time required for each component:

  • Track Actual Time: If you have the ability to track the actual time it takes for your team to complete each component, this is the most accurate way to determine time estimates. Consider tracking the time for each individual component over several instances of the task. For example, you might track how long it takes to verify participant details or how much time is spent on participant paperwork. By tracking task times regularly, you ensure that your budget reflects reality.
  • Use Historical Data: If time tracking isn’t in place yet, you can look at previous instances of similar tasks. Estimate how long it took in the past to complete each component and apply those estimates to the current task. While this method is less precise, it still provides useful baseline estimates for your budgeting.

Step 3: Factor in Experience and Efficiency

The time it takes for an experienced person to complete a task will likely differ from someone who is new to the process. More experienced team members may work faster or more efficiently due to their familiarity with the task and their understanding of the trial’s specifics.

When budgeting, it’s important to factor in these differences. If you’re scaling up a trial or onboarding new staff, the learning curve should be reflected in the time estimates. This ensures that your budget isn’t based solely on the fastest completion times but includes time for staff to adapt and improve efficiency.

Step 4: Account for Breaks and Interruptions

Real-world work environments often include breaks and interruptions that can impact task completion time. These might include scheduled breaks, meetings, phone calls, or unforeseen delays. It’s crucial to factor these interruptions into your time estimate to avoid over-scheduling your team or underestimating how long tasks will take.

For example, if you know that staff usually take a 15-minute break in the middle of a shift, or there are interruptions from other staff members requiring assistance, these should be included in the total time estimate.

Step 5: Calculate the Total Time for the Task

Now that you have estimates for each component of the task and accounted for experience and interruptions, add up the time for each individual component. This gives you the total estimated time for the task. You should also include time for regular breaks or any planned downtime during the shift.

For example:

  • Verifying participant details: 10 minutes
  • Preparing the exam room: 15 minutes
  • Reviewing informed consent with the participant: 20 minutes
  • Assisting with paperwork: 15 minutes
  • Coordinating tests/procedures: 10 minutes

Total time = 70 minutes

This total time estimate is for one person completing the task. If multiple people are involved, such as a team handling various components, you can adjust the time accordingly.

Step 6: Adjust for Volume or Scale

If the task needs to be repeated multiple times (such as multiple participant visits in one day), you’ll need to adjust your time estimates to reflect the volume. For instance, if you need to prepare multiple participants for visits or process several tests, multiply the time required for each task by the number of occurrences.

You may also find efficiencies or delays when scaling up. For example, when handling a larger number of participants, there may be efficiencies gained from routine, or on the other hand, inefficiencies due to crowding or more complex coordination. It’s important to account for these factors when calculating your overall workload.

Step 7: Review and Refine Over Time

Once you have your initial estimates, it’s important to review them regularly and refine them based on real-world performance. Continuous review and data collection on task completion time will help you identify discrepancies and fine-tune your estimates. For instance, you may find that certain tasks are consistently taking longer than expected or that some steps are being completed more efficiently.

Reviewing time estimates helps keep your schedules and budgets accurate and ensures you’re always working with up-to-date information.

Conclusion:  Why Tracking Task Times is Crucial for Budgeting

Accurately estimating the time required for each task is key to managing clinical trial budgets. By breaking tasks down, tracking time, factoring in experience, and accounting for interruptions, you can create a realistic and effective budget. This approach helps prevent cost overruns, optimises resource allocation, and ensures that your trial stays on schedule and on budget.

Over time, as you continue tracking and refining your task completion times, you’ll gain a clearer picture of your site’s operational needs, improving both efficiency and financial forecasting for future trials.

💬 Let’s Connect!

Are you currently tracking task completion times at your clinical trial site? We’d love to hear how you manage time and budgeting . Feel free to share your thoughts or send us a message if you’d like to explore strategies for improving time management and task efficiency in clinical trials.