Re:Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-lim...
by hashkb on Wednesday May 05, 2021 @09:21PM
(#27058086)
Wow if you're real, I'd love to have worked for you. Typically managers don't do the other half of what you do: they want critical surprise issue fixed yesterday, and with no caveats; you better still be available for marketing bullshit and that salesforce thing and that support issue we escalated to you and also when's that feature going to be ready?
Re:Ask HN: How to deal with managers who set a hard time-lim...
by brokenmachine on Thursday May 06, 2021 @01:45AM
(#27059572)
>Usually this request, though frequently very rare
Spoken like a true manager
Usually this request, though frequently very rare takes the form of "Issue $ISSUE is causing critical impacts on $IMPORTANT_THING, if we don't solve it by $TIME, it will cause $BAD_IMPACTS. Please make this your top priority and redirect questions about all other items to me. If you think this will not be done by $TIME, please let me know as soon as possible. I appreciate your hard work" Then you tell rest of the org: "$TEAM is working on $ISSUE and is re prioritizing other commitments. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out directly to me."
If the developer turns around and says "this won't happen in time", that's a problem for the manager, not the developer in like 99% of situations. It's not "bad news", it's the truth, and you should always be able to tell the unfiltered truth (especially to your direct manager!) without any repercussions.