Crunch Time

From TheCommandLineWiki

Part of The Inner Chapters Unbook.

Originally part of episode number fifty one.

Dedicated audio available from Podiobooks.

Original Notes

• Compare to down time
• Deadlines
  • Sometimes beyond our control
  • Other times, we impose them to help inertia
    • Can mark progress
    • May facilitate prioritization, what makes the cut for working on right now
• Cost, features, date - pick two
  • Cost is always limited by available resources
  • There is a barrier beyond which adding resources won't help, anyway, see the Mythical Man Month
  • Some times the date can be moved
  • More reasonable is to re-negotiate features
  • Most customers, internal or external, would rather receive something, even if less than original promised, then receive anything late
• If you are a contributor
  • Keep your lead and/or manager up to date on any tasks that may take longer than expected
  • Never suffer in silence
    • The later you come forward, the less time there is for a manager to do something about it
    • Overexertion usually results in diminished quality
  • Remember the lesson of humility - we all make mistakes, we all need help at times
  • Re-visit the requirements continually to stay in scope
    • Scope creep is usually only though about during requirements negotiation
    • You may be doing more than what was asked during implementation
      • Building for future requirements
      • Over-engineering or over-delivering on a simpler feature
      • Keeps notes when you creep scope, these are good candidates for future enhancements, should go through the normal requirements process
• If you are a manager
  • When prioritizing features, tasks, always build a short list of items that can be pulled if time requires
    • Sets expectations early
    • Helps with the decision later, gets early buy-in
  • Know your resources and pad appropriately
  • Keep talking to your people
    • Learn of problems sooner rather than later
    • Also, identify opportunities, where one task is completed early the developer in question may have time to help someone else who is behind
  • Manage upwards
    • Insulate your team from outside interference
      • Sales
      • Customers
      • Filter this input and share where and how it would be appropriate
    • Always have options when discussing problems
      • Features to be pulled
      • New resources that could help
      • Alternate ways of meeting the requirements or business opportunities

Transcript