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It's disgusting how people drive away from truth and it causes other people to have to make wild corrections to manage the lies. It snowballs into meaninglessne
by NAHWheatCracker 5y ago
It's disgusting how people drive away from truth and it causes other people to have to make wild corrections to manage the lies. It snowballs into meaninglessness.
I once gave a detailed estimate of a project I thought would take 2-6 months. I called out the major blockers, explained the highest variability parts of the project, and made suggestions about how we could reduce variability.
Rather than address any of the points I made, the managers focused on nailing me down to a single estimate. Presumably they had to sell it as a quarter-long project.
I sat in the office of the engineering manager, and explained that any single estimate would be a lie. He told me that it wasn't a lie, it's just my best guess. I said my best guess is 2-6 months. He asked for 3 months. I said he can use whatever he wants, but my estimate is the same. I think they ended up using 3 months.
The ordeal complete drained my energy and the project went no where. My future estimates went through the roof and they eventually stopped asking. Now projects don't have any believable plans.
- arius 5y agoIn such case I would recommend to under promise and over deliver. Your estimate conveys that it's risky selling it as a 3 months project and risk free as 6 months. It's in your best interest to sell it as 6 months and have a chance to complete it in 3. You could bargain 5 months by taking few risk. Nonetheless a good manager should have understood your estimation range and act accordingly.
- NAHWheatCracker 5y agoI think that's a good approach as well. I don't want to belabor the point, but I had been ignored on previous project estimations as well. Management was going to use whatever estimate they wanted. My focus was on the blockers and risks.