Jeremy's World
Do what you like because you like it. Be who you are with no apologies.
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A big part of my job is managing projects. Big projects with complex dependencies, multiple milestones, stakeholders wanting date commitments, etc. The last one in particular is always a challenge, and if a Project Manager tells you otherwise they are lying. It’s never possible to say – with any reasonable certainty – that a given project can be done on a specific date or will take a specific number of hours. Disagree?
The usual game that’s played is to put in some CYA padding. The PM’s internal conversation goes something like,
“Ok, I don’t really know the specifics of the project yet, but we can usually do them in 3 weeks. I’ll commit to 4 weeks ‘just in case.’”
Back to the question in the title…How long is your commute? 10 minutes? What if there’s traffic? 20 minutes. What if it’s snowing? 40 minutes. What if, what if, what if. All of these “what if’s” reflect the obvious reality that there is always uncertainty with things like this. Sure, we can’t plan for every “what if,” but in the project world with padded estimates, we try to give ourselves wiggle room.
What inevitably happens is the client says, “Whoa, can’t we do that faster?” It turns into a negotiation on timelines that were ambiguous, padded swags in the first place! The padding goes away in the negotiation, something happens, and a date is missed. How has this worked out traditionally in the software world?
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