>>When I was doing more project work I outright refused to give estimates... Instead I offered broad time ranges that would narrow down to more accurate ones as

>>When I was doing more project work I outright refused to give estimates... Instead I offered broad time ranges that would narrow down to more accurate ones as work progressed. Broad time ranges can also be risky, because people will hear what they want to hear, which is usually the lower end of the range. Which is why I only discuss effort (in hours) rather than timeframes. All of our projects are fixed bid, so the conversation usually goes, "this project will take 150 hours of effort. We don't know how long those 150 hours will take to expend." And in rare cases where we absolutely have to mention a timeframe, we make sure it is not in writing anywhere.