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Re:As eng manager, you so frequently get request to drop wha... by onion2k on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @09:20AM (#31919700)
The point is that every barrier you put up ("Have you answered my 3 special questions!?") means people are less likely to interrupt you, which is great on the face of it, except for that one time you really want to hear about something as soon as possible and they decide not to bother you because they haven't written a spec for "Make sure the website is actually up."

Being interrupted a lot is less bad than creating a culture where people are afraid to bring bad things to you early.

Re:As eng manager, you so frequently get request to drop wha... by JamesSwift on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @09:42AM (#31919977)
I dont understand why it goes from "person comes in (implicitly) demanding work" to "person doesnt even talk to me at all" in that scenario. I think if you have had an empathetic "training session" previously such that they are aware of how you are going to evaluate requests, they will come with questions/conversation rather than requests/demands.

Also these questions (I assume) are not rigid "bring a signed stakeholder form to me before we start", its an informal "Mr. X wants this worked on instead of (other thing)?" and they say "Yes". If later it turns out to be inaccurate then the requestor is now the boy who cried wolf and gets vetted much more strictly for future requests. Possibly with a signed stakeholder form before you start.

Re:As eng manager, you so frequently get request to drop wha... by hinkley on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @12:00PM (#31922020)
It’s called Flipping the Bozo Bit and it can happen almost that fast.
Re:As eng manager, you so frequently get request to drop wha... by malfist on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @09:27AM (#31919811)
I'm not sure that's true. I don't think there's any malice in their three questions, and they seem reasonable. Of course, they could be an asshole and demand way too much detail in those answers.

But the questions are really simple: What's the impact? Is the scope of work agreed asked for by product?

The third question is really their question to their team, what's the effort needed for us to fulfill this ask?

That seems like common sense to me, but maybe I'm missing something. These questions should be answered before even the original asker starts their work.

Re:As eng manager, you so frequently get request to drop wha... by JamesSwift on Wednesday June 29, 2022 @09:43AM (#31919992)
Right, the third one is non-negotiable. In no scenario would it be ok for a requestor to come in dictating how long it would take, and any language about that would always be reason for having a conversation to set that expectation.