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> However, whenever I see generalist managers at work, there always seems to be massive emphasis on schedule risk and at least in organisation I've been in, the
by sverige 9y ago
> However, whenever I see generalist managers at work, there always seems to be massive emphasis on schedule risk and at least in organisation I've been in, the proposed mitigation is always regular status meetings (and perhaps other forms of check-in as well).
I think the reason for that behavior is because they don't want to be caught unawares when some deadline is missed. In other words, one of the metrics they are measured on is meeting deadlines, which of course pushes schedule risk to the top of the pile. There's merit to that, but that has to be balanced with the quality of the product.
The blind spot for such managers is that constant check-ins and updates on progress too frequently interrupt the flow of people who need time to think things through. Adding pressure at the wrong point can possibly ruin the quality of the final product.
- ScottBurson 9y agoI have a completely different way of mitigating schedule risk: find the most difficult, unpredictable subproblem and do that first. I guess it's not quite fair to say that I've never seen a manager pick up on this idea, but it still doesn't seem to have become their first-choice strategy.
- mikhailfranco 9y agoAn experienced architect will always do this. Often the most risky subproblem is the one that is least understood (unknown unknowns), which needs to be investigated, even if it turns out not to be a great risk. In agile-speak this is called 'spike solution'. Also see lean architecture methods, such as: - 'Just Enough Software Architecture', by George Fairbanks. - 'Risk and Cost Driven Architecture', by Eltjo Poort.