Question: What is the Student Syndrome?

The Student Syndrome is an observed behavior which can present some problems in business (in general) and project management (specifically). In the Student Syndrome the combination of procrastination with over estimating (padding) task durations can lead to serious project delays. For example take someone who is told they need to complete a task in 2 weeks with 60 hours of billable time. 60 Hours is already less than two weeks work, so they could procrastinate 2 and a half days before starting. Secondly, if the person knows the task will only really take 40 hours, they might procrastinate a whole week. They have every intention of finishing on time and within budget. But this behavior, the Student Syndrome, comes back to haunt the project when, in performing the work, it is discovered to be more difficult than originally planned. Or maybe an unexpected event takes place or the preceding step wasn't completely properly. In all cases, the procrastination of a week means that the problem is not discovered until it is too late and will now have a greater affect on the project.