111–120 of 212 posts
Tell the product owner what the situation is and collaboratively come up with either: a) a new timeline that you believe you can meet or b) a list of tradeoffs that can be made to get the project out the door in time I have been an engineering lead and a product manager and it is much better for everyone to just be upfront about all of this. You know what your team can produce and (roughly) how fast they can produce…
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
Next step, is to spell this out to your project team leadership completely unvarnished. Tell them your conclusion and how you got there. Don't let them bargain over your reasoning unless they actually have better evidence. The key is to never say "this is too hard" or "we don't have enough people" or make any other excuses. Not should you be overly emotional. Just give the facts. It's a fait accompli.
Then just ask how they want to deal with it. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from beating around the bush. I've done this more than once and was always taken seriously. One time we had even already signed a fixed-bid contract before I was able to give them an estimate. What you've committed too doesn't change the course of what's actually going to happen.
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
Like some of the other posts said - be real. If people don't respond well to this then the company has a bigger problem than a slipped schedule.
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
First they hear what they want to hear, i.e., what is not threatening to them. 'Project delivery will certainly be late' is heard as 'the next milestone will be late' or 'we're a little behind schedule and will catch up' or 'it's making another project late', etc. It's truly incredible what people will construct in their minds. What's the saying? 'Don't expect people to understand what their salary depends on them not understanding'?
Second, like everyone, they ignore or put off dealing with bad news. (Probably, that's a temptation of the OP.) Then they say, 'I didn't know.'
It depends on the people and the organization, of course, but you do you protect yourself from being thrown under the bus?
What has been done is what will be done.
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
Strongly disagree. I think this is the cynical view, and I'm sure is valid in many companies, but raising potential issues early is really important - other people can't fix problems if they don't know about them. It sounds like you have visibility into a problem that others may not, tell them! Don't assume people already know. Like some of the other posts said - be real. If people don't respond well to this then the…
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
This is a good advice and all three points are spot on (on time deliveries are unusual; management likely knows you are late; messengers often get shot). You do need to figure out for yourself a realistic, pretty safe time when you will be ready: an extra month? three months? never? You say the work is outside your team's comfort zone. This is potentially a much bigger red flag than being late. Will the team learn an…
This is not going to be like the other advice you get, but I've managed many projects in different organizations and I think it is sound. First and foremost, don't sound any alarms. Many organizations have common characteristics in this regard. First, they don't expect you to be on time. Sales may think you're going to launch on time, but it's in their financial interest to think so. The rest of the org probably made…
Disagree. Just be real. When I joined my current company, they had a project kicking off with a ridiculously short timeline. I asked the product manager to think about how many stories were in the backlog, how many might be added as we went, how many stories they could get through per sprint given the team capacity and then you can put a rough date on it and continue adjusting every sprint as the backlog shrinks and…
As a borderline autistic person I have a very direct communication style and lost account of how many times I burned myself for failing to "beat around the bush".
You can't say "the project is doomed" even if it is true. You can't say it will be so over budget and take so long that it would be better to cut the losses now. Don't expect to go unpunished for saying "the king is nude".
According to my experience both parents are absolutely right, but the first is how most organizations work and the second is an ideal seldom found in the real world.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disagree. Just be real. When I joined my current company, they had a project kicking off with a ridiculously short timeline. I asked the product manager to think about how many stories were in the backlog, how many might be added as we went, how many stories they could get through per sprint given the team capacity and then you can put a rough date on it and continue adjusting every sprint as the backlog shrinks and…
This is how things should run if the work culture was logic based but with rare exceptions it isn't. As a borderline autistic person I have a very direct communication style and lost account of how many times I burned myself for failing to "beat around the bush". You can't say "the project is doomed" even if it is true. You can't say it will be so over budget and take so long that it would be better to cut the losses…