“When that high-profile project just ain’t gonna happen, how can you ensure that your head isn’t on the chopping block? Matt Heusser provides some practical suggestions for passing on the bad news without just passing the blame.”
“When that high-profile project just ain’t gonna happen, how can you ensure that your head isn’t on the chopping block? Matt Heusser provides some practical suggestions for passing on the bad news without just passing the blame.”
If it weren’t for doomed projects, most software would never even see the light of day. How many managers would agree to a project if you told them the actual truth. Sure, if NOTHING goes wrong, you could theoretically meet the deadline, but oftentimes a doomed project takes on a new direction for the better.
Look at the amount of buggy software from ALL suppliers. It’s a fact of programming life.
Jim Allchin got promoted.
Good managers want to hear the truth. Good managers include in the schedule sick time, vacation, and all of the other forms of overhead. Good managers include time to resolve problems; a modest amount for projects similar to past projects, a greater amount of time for projects covering new ground.
But you really have to tell the truth. You can’t pad your estimates, you need to provide an honest estimate and degree of uncertainty. In other words, estimates are ranges.
And you have to own up to mistakes. If one of your guys makes a mistake, take the blame and say what steps are taking to prevent it from happening again. YOU take the blame, for failing to provide the oversight to the guy who made the mistake. Don’t blame him; it’s your job to provide the training, the process, and the supervision that keeps him productive.
Good managers are rare. When you work with poor managers, all you can do is document, document, and document. Put everything in writing. After every meeting, write a memo that summarizes what you understood was said, who will do what, and when. Copy everyone directly involved. It’s a lot of work, but a bad manager will leave a trail of bad decisions IF you get those decisions written down. If he won’t make decisions, you need to document that, too.
I’ve learned the hard way. I got spoiled by working for good managers, up until the usual managemant shuffle put me under a loser. I didn’t document what he was doing, and what I was doing, and he took credit for my work, and I took the blame for his mistakes.
Confine documents to facts: who, what, where, and when. Keep your opinions to yourself. Let the facts speak for themselves. If you attack your boss, his boss will feel obligated to support him. Give him the facts, and let him make up his own mind.
good advice thanks.
Dear Howard,
I do admire your words. It is truth that the worst manager cannot handle the truth and you tell him the truth but he still don’t know the truth.
Now I know to DOUMENT my manager. Thank you for your advice.
Ching
Howard – Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your opinions and your writing style. If anyone on this forum is interested in exploring these concepts, you might want to email me privately (matt dot heusser at gmail dot com) or join my email discussion list, SW-IMPROVE:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SW-Improve/
Regards,
–heusser
Howdy,
I was wondering what kind of software do you use to manage/document a project (for both sides – programmers and managers). Some adv/disadv. would be nice to hear too.
Thnx
—
Dmitry