Re:I suspect many task deadlines are designed to force engin...
by majormajor on Wednesday September 16, 2020 @04:41PM
(#24497595)
Yeah, anyone who knows about a deadline for a project for a month and hasn't bothered scoping it or estimating with their team is massively failing at their job.
Re:I suspect many task deadlines are designed to force engin...
by babesh on Wednesday September 16, 2020 @05:21PM
(#24498091)
Most tech companies are set up such that managers are not incentivized to play defense for their team. Managers switch teams too often (usually on an annual cycle). Teams get reorganized almost as often. Managers have to please their boss or someone higher up.
The power the engineers have is to exit. In some organizations, the engineers can exit to another part of the organization. In others, they exit the organization entirely. This does actually work in aggregate if you just look at it on a longer timescale.
The direct eng manager (or PM sometimes) should be in a position to fight against this sort of absurdity, give the IC a few days to scope the project, etc. One of the eng managers at a previous employer wasnt a great technical mind but was stellar at playing defense against managament. We all had great respect for him repeatedly taking it on the chin for his team.