Gesamtdauer

Gesamtdauer is a German term that denotes the total duration of a process, event, or system—the time elapsed from its start to its end. It encompasses all phases, transitions, delays and waiting periods that contribute to the overall time span. The concept is used in fields such as project management, production, film and media, and process analysis.

Calculation of the Gesamtdauer depends on how tasks relate to each other. If activities occur sequentially, the Gesamtdauer equals the sum of their durations. If tasks run in parallel, the Gesamtdauer is determined by the longest path from beginning to end, i.e., the maximum of the end times along concurrent strands. In complex workflows with iterations, queues or returns, waiting times and rework are added to reflect the actual elapsed time. Schedules, timelines and process maps are common tools for determining the Gesamtdauer.

The term helps distinguish elapsed time from other time concepts such as the effort required (Aufwand) or the runtime of individual components (Dauer). It is sensitive to how start and end points are defined and to the inclusion or exclusion of breaks and non-value-adding waiting periods. For planning purposes, the Gesamtdauer informs capacity planning, lead-time estimation and scheduling reliability.

Examples illustrate its use: in film production, the Gesamtdauer spans from the first pre-production meeting to the final release date, including delays. In software development, it describes the total elapsed time of a sprint or a project from start to finish, regardless of how work is distributed among parallel teams.