4 ms·
I don't really get that. Why would someone need an estimate if the estimate is wrong anyway - what use it is. Then if I'm forced to give an estimate, I usually
by Vinnl 7y ago
I don't really get that. Why would someone need an estimate if the estimate is wrong anyway - what use it is.
Then if I'm forced to give an estimate, I usually add an order of magnitude precisely because I know there's a lot I don't know yet, and the worst and best cases of underpromising and over-delivering are better than vice versa. Yet many people's intuitions (also engineers') appear to disagree with that.
- Tempest1981 7y agoFor years, I felt guilty (or was made to feel guilty) for giving an accurate/realistic estimate. Mostly at startups, where you feel, everyday, that the company is at risk of failing. It's better to give a range of estimates - best case to worst case. Although managers may only hear the best case.
- Vinnl 7y agoSure, but especially when I'm made to feel guilty, my answer is always: the estimate I give does not influence how quickly the work is going to get done, so feel free to tell yourself that it will take half the time if that makes you feel better. I want to make it as explicit as possible that, if a manager only hears the best case, that's of their own volition.