One perspective is that negotiation of schedule and resources is often nothing resembling estimation but is a political game. Ed Yourdon's book "Death March" ha

One perspective is that negotiation of schedule and resources is often nothing resembling estimation but is a political game. Ed Yourdon's book "Death March" has a chapter about Negotiation . http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/013143635X/samplechapter/013143635X_ch03.pdf http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/013143635X/samplechapt... There's a list of "negotiation games" that, sadly, you'll probably recognise. And a bit of more practical advice: >> The problem I have with “estimate” is that I understand >> the word to mean, “best assessment knowing what is known >> at this moment and what can reasonably be predicted about >> the future.” From experience, what I have seen happen is >> that once an estimate is published,it becomes a rock >> solid commitment representing the maximum amount of >> resources needed to accomplish the project phase or the >> entire project. > Unfortunately, there’s an uglier aspect of the political > negotiation when you introduce the plus-or-minus > qualifier into your estimate: You’ll be accused of > uncertainty, wishy-washiness, weakness, or even > incompetence. [...] What senior management really wants > is a firm commitment — a promise that the project will > be finished on a certain deadline, with a budget of a > certain number of dollars, and a staff of a certain size. > This gives them the enormous luxury of (a) no longer > having to worry about the problem for the duration of the > project and (b) having a convenient scapegoat to blame if > the promise is broken. > Jim McCarthy, in his excellent book, Dynamics of Software > Development, suggests that the project manager needs to > confront this head-on and persuade the customers and/or > senior management that they need to share some of the > burden of uncertainty [around schedule, cost, resourcing] > that the entire project team will be living with on a > day-to-day basis. Thus, the project manager effectively > says to the customer or the senior management group, > “Look, I don’t know precisely when this project will > finish — but since I’m the project manager, I’m far more > likely than anyone else in the organization to figure it > out as soon as it can be figured out. I promise you that > once I know, I’ll tell you right away.” > Only a manager with a lot of self-confidence, and the > ability to walk away from the assignment, has the > chutzpah to say something like this in the politically > charged atmosphere of a death march project. The time to > say it is at the beginning of the project; after all, if > the customer and senior management do not respect your > ability as a project manager, and if they don’t realize > that you do have a better chance of knowing when the > project will finish than anyone else, then why are they > putting you in charge of the project in the first place? > Are you being set up as a scapegoat? Are you going to > be a “puppet manager,” with all the decisions being > made by other political manipulators in the > organization? If so, now is the time to get out! > Similarly, if you’re a lowly programmer on the project > team and you see political games like this, it may be a > strong indication that your project manager (a) doesn’t > have the confidence to believe in any estimate that he > puts forth, (b) doesn’t have the backbone to stand up > for himself and for the project team, and/or (c) has > gotten himself into a political situation where all the > key decisions will be made by people who are not > directly involved in the project. Again, this is a > strong indication that the project is doomed; and > before you get too deeply involved, it might be a > better idea to seek greener pastures. Refusing to be pressured into emitting on-the-spot "estimates" that will be regarded as commitments is a useful life skill. Teach your new hires: http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=2267 http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=2267