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There's a three-pronged approach when dealing with it: - Pad. - Communicate risks. - Communicate assumptions. Then when assumptions are wrong, immediately c
by lucumo 3y ago
There's a three-pronged approach when dealing with it:
- Pad.
- Communicate risks.
- Communicate assumptions.
Then when assumptions are wrong, immediately communicate that this will change the estimate. When risks hit, communicate that a risk hit, and whether or not you can absorb the impact in the planning. If not, communicate the expected delay. Pad that too.
Communicate, communicate, pad, and communicate.
(Padding, BTW, may feel dishonest, but it isn't. It is making the assumption that a certain share of you risks will strike and making allowances for that.)
If you still get in trouble for missing estimates, pad more and communicate in writing. Then when people start blaming, you can point to the emails sent. To their/your boss if necessary.
- Volundr 3y ago> (Padding, BTW, may feel dishonest, but it isn't. It is making the assumption that a certain share of you risks will strike and making allowances for that.) This. It helps to realize that when someone asks "how long will X take". What they are actually asking is "When can I rely on X being done by?". If you say 2 days and it takes one, no problem. But if you say one and it takes 2, they've already told the client it'll be done tomorrow, arranged for the machinery to be in place, and now everything is jammed up based on your delay. Estimating is as much art as science and requires understanding the context around the estimate and how it will be used.
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y agoalso offer alternatives, preferably at the same time you communicate the risk. When the risk hits you can then start making recommendations about the workarounds you've already communicated. This stuff is fluid but too many technical people feel as if it's not.