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The flip side of this is that when stakeholders/customers don't know what they really want or need, you can labor in the "requirements phase" for months. My te
by eitally 13y ago
The flip side of this is that when stakeholders/customers don't know what they really want or need, you can labor in the "requirements phase" for months. My team spent 900 hours last year just getting a functional spec and high level SRS together for a project that hasn't happened yet. Why hasn't it happened? Because at the end of the 900 hours, we presented our estimate (about 1100hrs) to the customer and he balked at the cost & time. Then my boss bitched at us for spending so much time on requirements in the first place.
<8 months pass>
Now we're looking at commercial solutions in an attempt to not have to build this thing and deal with this department anymore.
I agree with you 100%, but the number of people astute and experienced enough to quickly and deeply understand the problem to be solved (and the quirks of the customer) are few and far between. In my experience, perhaps 5-10% of any large IT organization fall into this category -- everyone knows who the superstars are and their time is always at a premium. Drives me bonkers.
- hef19898 13y agoTry to keep your spirit up despite all this, especially your team. Things like that were part of the reason why I quit my last job. Completely true is the thing with the superstars. I knew one myself, a genius in warehouse management systems. If I had him on a project, it went smoothly as anything. if I didn't I stayed in development hell for months. But seeing this guys workload, he wasn't off any better. But in retrospect, the general direction the organisation took at my last employer wasn't that bad. Execution lacked, so.
- cygwin98 13y agoIf you billed those 900 hours for doing RFP for the customer, it doesn't sound too bad.
- eitally 13y agoWe couldn't bill them -- it was another SG&A department and we (IT) don't bill them for our work.
- roel_v 13y agoHow can you spend 900 hours without someone taking responsibility for it? After 4, you say 'give me a project nr or talk to my boss.' I'd be pissed too if my staff spend 900 hours on a dud without approval or accountability.