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Re:A conflict with a manager ended with me being disallowed ... by ghaff on Monday June 20, 2022 @09:49AM (#31810322)
>I'd just say some very high number (3-4 months) and if they weren't happy, I'd just reply "when we start working on it we'll do our best to pull it in".

Yeah. If it's something I have some familiarity with, I can usually throw out an upper bound. And do as you suggest and/or say "If you want me to spend next week digging into the details a bit more deeply I can, but it means I won't be spending much time on my current project. Your call." (And perhaps the estimate is important because of a product launch etc. Or maybe it's just a number on someone's status report.)

Re:A conflict with a manager ended with me being disallowed ... by kcplate on Monday June 20, 2022 @07:03PM (#31817371)
Best advice in this situation always give an upper bound estimate and fatten it up a little more. All they want is a number there is a damn good chance that it really doesn’t matter.

The reality—if you give me an estimate, I am probably going to fatten it up even further when I pass it up the chain, not because I don’t trust your estimate, but because something always happens outside of your and my control.