These Deadlines Are Too Agressive

This is one of the most common things I hear from engineers, especially as they inch closer to a major deadline. Let’s face it, getting a project done within a deadline is not easy. If you have had to run to a shuttle before it leaves or a cafe before it closes, you should already be familiar with this inconvenient fact. Even the most meticulous planning can come up short, particularly for bigger projects. But sometimes, these hiccups can be mitigated or perhaps even completely avoided if engineers follow some basic rules in how they plan and execute on projects. 

First of all, engineers should always do the sizing exercise themselves because they, more than anyone else, should have the most intimate knowledge of the work and the level of effort required. It also stands to reason that they come up with the numbers that they will eventually be held accountable for. Needless to say, if engineers are asked to operate with estimates they themselves did not come up with, they should carefully validate these estimates before committing to the work. This very much applies even to estimates provided by their own managers and close peers.

Secondly, engineers should always add some buffer to their estimates on account of the unexpected. This is never an exact science but with more experience, engineers should become more calibrated at sizing up risk and quantifying it. Some junior engineers unfortunately go to the other extreme and corner themselves into overly aggressive deadlines with little wiggle room, in an effort to impress their peers. The reality is, it is far safer and probably even more impressive to give more realistic deadlines and then, overdeliver.

Lastly, deadlines slip and it’s not the end of the world. Just be sure to let others know. I always tell my team that it’s not the missed deadline that concerns me the most, but how quickly it gets flagged. Raising visibility early ensures that stakeholders who are depending on you are made aware well ahead of time and can account for these changes in their plans. And hopefully, others have also accounted for the expected in unexpected in their plans so they may not have to do much of an adjustment anyway.

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