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Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

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Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#1

Post by null_object »

What would be a good and not career-destroying approach to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on when a bug will be fixed?

For some context, this arose in a pre-release application-critical bug that several people had attempted to solve, but which we had no insight into the cause. As it turned-out, the external partner for whom we were building the application had supplied one wrong piece of configuration - but this information was confidential to their setup, and we had no insight into how it would break another part of a complex flow (or even that it existed).

The essential problem, is that the management simply sent out a mail to the whole team saying the bug should be fixed by the next day at 'close-of-business'.

Question is how to deal with this sort of management behavior without ending your career?

I'm aiming to find some constructive way to help them in the future to see why bugs can't always yield predictably to time-boxed developer effort.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#3

Post by fabbari »

First: discuss with your development team the issue, make sure you get buy-in on replying to management with one voice. A.K.A.: avoiding you saying "We can't do X" and someone else goes: "Of course we can!".

Second: talk to your manager. Don't send an e-mail. That would just turn in a long, and possibly bitter, battle of 're:re:re:re:' or be interpreted as a C.Y.A. fig leaf. Make sure you start by understanding where that timebox is coming from and how 'un-elastic' really is. Then proceed to explain that for your team it's hard to commit to a timeline when the - currently unknown - fix to the bug could be a line of code or rewriting a whole component of the software. Reach an understanding that - of course - your team will try an deliver in the gives timebox if at all possible, but that you will keep him informed of any findings that may indicate that it will take longer.

Third: proceed working on the analysis and fix keeping them in the loop; make the messaging short, meaningful and to the point. "We found the issue: X", "We're designing a fix: Y", "Current estimate for the fix is Y". Make sure that the communication is timely. One thing is to say at 10AM: "We think it's going to take two days", and another is to say the same thing at 5PM.

Ideally this should come from the Dev team lead - which is what I do for a living. We are there to take the fire.

If you get pushback, no answers and management doesn't respond well to this pattern - well, you want that career destroyed and to move to some other place.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#4

Post by bwh2 »

Earlier in my career, I would hear my manager say something about a specific situation and I would extrapolate that into a general belief and theoretical/academic debate that frustrated everyone. Make sure you're not doing that.

As a manager, sometimes you need to say things like, "This bug needs to be fixed by EOD tomorrow" so that your team understands the urgency and your expectations. The more technical the manager, the more likely they can understand whether that expectation is reasonable.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#5

Post by speedgoose »

It sounds like your management really wants this bug to be fixed quickly. You should think about why they try to put so much pressure using their own words, which are not the best indeed.

Your team should probably focus on this bug, to fix it ASAP. It may take longer than what the management is hoping for, they are likely aware of that.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#6

Post by null_object »

speedgoose wrote: post #5

It sounds like your management really wants this bug to be fixed quickly. You should think about why they try to put so much pressure using their own words, which are not the best indeed. Your team should probably focus on this bug, to fix it ASAP. It may take longer than what the management is hoping for, they are likely aware of that.

The 'bug' was fixed long before the deadline - this isn't about me venting some negative energy on HN when I should be working. Throughout my career I've worked with project managers who've consistently misunderstood the nature of bugs and how they're fixed, and I've often tried to explain why setting an arbitrary timeline doesn't help - regardless of whether they are trying to 'set expectations' or underline the seriousness of the situation.

I hoped that others - I'm sure pretty much everyone has at some time experienced this management style - would be able to give some good tips about ways to help the management to a better understanding of the process.

Re: Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-limit on fixing a bug?

#7

Post by null_object »

fabbari wrote: post #3

First: discuss with your development team the issue, make sure you get buy-in on replying to management with one voice. A.K.A.: avoiding you saying "We can't do X" and someone else goes: "Of course we can!". Second: talk to your manager. Don't send an e-mail. That would just turn in a long, and possibly bitter, battle of 're:re:re:re:' or be interpreted as a C.Y.A. fig leaf. Make sure you start by understanding where…

I think this is probably about as close as we will come to a process that would work.

I'd say that right now the company I'm working for doesn't have the structure in place - no team leads, for instance - to dissipate the heat when it's on, and no procedure to follow when things go wrong.

These are definitely things to think about as we grow. Thanks for the constructive reply!

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