What is the best way to handle unrealistic deadlines and missed deadlines at work?

Posted by Legitimate-mostlet@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 32 comments

So, I am at a point where I am experienced enough to not miss many deadlines. I know what is realistic to get done and what isn't.

However, there are at times third variables outside of your control that make it so you are late on a deliverable for a sprint cycle.

I still find this situation stressful as it usually happens at the end of the sprint and is almost unavoidable too. Do the another person doing something that couldn't be accounted for. That is what makes it most stressful. Is it is something that is out of your control and you could not plan for it.

Like, what is the best way to handle these types of situations that de-stress yourself and also keep it from looking bad for you?

For context, this is coming from someone who basically never delivers stuff late to a sprint ever, so we are talking very rarely happening. Think once a year max.

How do you handle this without it negatively affecting you at work? Also, how do you prevent this from ruining your week or your life outside work?

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carminemangione@reddit

True answer is to have an open communication. There are three variables: cost/time, quality and scope. The first two are non negotiable.

So the trick is figuring out what is really important to them and what is hard for you.

Chances are you can deliver what is important on time. However, of you sacrifice quality you are kind of screwed. Eventually, you all deliver nothing because bugs are exponentially harder to fix than any feature

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jl2352@reddit

Just to be that guy, the first two can be negotiable in certain circumstances. I once had to built a prototype for the CEO to show to a company who was thinking of partnering or buying ours.

We said we could do it quicker in the short term if the accepted quality was low, and we would throw the prototype away after. Making it longer to build in the long term. We did it and the demo was a big success.

In this part of the story you’d expect after the demo we were pressed into shipping it anyway. However the CEO was great, and held up his side. We threw it away and started again.

When you’re working with adults those things can be negotiated.

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carminemangione@reddit

In agile, the first two are non-negotiable: agile is a zero defect process.

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norcalbrewin@reddit

Agree, it’s “Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two”. You can pick any two, but you can’t pick all 3. 90% of the time decision makers go with the “good and cheap”. But you’re right that there are legitimate cases where not picking “good” is a smart strategy

Big-Treat2205@reddit

sylcampus.com will put all your deadlines onto a color-coded calendar for you

Sorry_Beyond_6559@reddit

It’s not going to be popular, but from my experience, the real answer is “work nights & weekends to make those deadlines work or be replaced by resources that will.”

I was at a company that promised work life balance in the interview, but I realized that I was going to have to work 60+ hour weeks to keep up after starting. Everyone else on the team was. I went to my manager, and they told me to “take the hint” and not bring it up again.

This is just the reality of the modern workplace now

Legitimate-mostlet@reddit (OP)

When was this, what kind of company was this, and was this in the US? This sounds like Amazon.

bulbishNYC@reddit

End of sprint is NOT a deadline. It is a forecast, best effort. Managers are playing you so you work overtime and stay stressed.

Log your achievements for THE WHOLE YEAR. Ignore micro deadlines. If any manager complains about not meeting about arbitrary 2-week deadline he invented, pull up your list of accomplishments for say year 2024. Do not measure yourself by small intervals - you will die of stress and burnout. Managers love those - keep you working weekends. Measure yourself by whole year - NO STRESS. I deliver 0 lines of code in 3 weeks, any manager says anything - I pull up my 2024 list, look bitch and STFU :D

ps://www.scrum.org/resources/commitment-vs-forecast

rayfrankenstein@reddit

So many places treat end of sprint as a deadline that it’s a defacto standard of scrum.

UntestedMethod@reddit

Communicate as early as possible.

Jmc_da_boss@reddit

Those who care should be notified as soon as it becomes apparent. Consistent re communication is vital

It’s as simple as this.

And if it’s any comfort, I would also argue that if you’re hitting 100% of your deadlines, you’re probably high-balling your estimates. Most (good) managers expect deadlines to be missed occasionally (not systemically). If dates are never missed, the smart managers know the estimates are being sand bagged (over inflated). So if you missed one deadline all year, that’s a phenomenal track record and you can use that one miss to demonstrate that your estimates are actually competitive

Ok_Beginning_9943@reddit

I agree with the sentiment that it's normal to miss deadlines, but it's also important to call out that the term "deadline" carries a lot of weight, and inexperienced ICs will often work overtime to meet them, which shouldn't be interpreted by management as "the estimate was sandbagged".

The key is to teach junior folks that deadlines are missed all the time, and that missing them can be a positive signal to management that you're under-resourced for the task at hand.

Good clarification. Working overtime leads to burnout or surprise costs to the customer (depending on the billing practices) which smart managers will want to help mitigate too. Quietly working overtime is probably worse than sandbagging since it often results in those “actuals” being baked into future estimates (basically setting oneself up to work overtime on future efforts in perpetuity)

travelinzac@reddit

What is the importance of the "deadline"? Is it a sprint item slipping? Literally don't care. Metrics can suck it. I will always prioritize the thing that has high impact now over the normal course of work. If those things also have tight timelines, I tell my manager/director that I'm pulling capacity from another team member or from another team.

Independent_Pitch598@reddit

(Sprint) Prioritization usually is not done by devs.

Yea? Tell that to all the Project Managers we laid off.

Project managers don’t do that also.

You act like every company operates on the exact same model. PMO is often the product owner. I come from lean hypergrowth VC land, there is endless overlap.

And?

3May@reddit

Let go. If you can't control it, let go of it. Your responsibility is to keep someone apprised of reality, and to live in reality. Believe me, I got more out of my team when I told them to do it right, not fast, and that a missed deadline is just simply bullsh!t that happens. They can't be excellent with stupid stress, or working for a boss who doesn't believe in them or support them. Just take a few deep breaths, get the right perspective, and you'll be fine.

Technical-Cicada-602@reddit

Shit happens. Competent managers are aware of this.

diablo1128@reddit

If there are unreasonable deadlines then you communicate early and often about how it's unreasonable and what can actually be accomplished in the given timeframe. If the powers in charge don't want to listen then I just don't care and let deadlines get missed.

This is especially true if it's just weekly sprint work that could easily roll over. If we are working towards a demo at CES or something like that then I'll give more flexibility on what I will do.

I care about setting reasonable expectations for my work. If I don't work fast enough for the company and have to constantly work overtime then it's probably not a good fit and I should find a new job.

Honestly, I don't care about looking bad as how I perform on the job is not a reflection of my self worth as a human being. If managers see me in a negative light just because I'm trying to tell them how long things take in the real world, then it is what it is. I don't need everybody to like me in this situation.

phoenix823@reddit

I couldn't agree with this sentiment any more strongly. Missing sprint commitments happens; things are more complex than they appear, other challenges arise, etc. Major milestones getting missed is a bigger deal. But, in situations where someone sets a target date, target budget, and says no scope change is a recipe for a big fucking disaster. And that's on the person setting those expectations. You can try and argue with them but someone who acts like that is unlikely to listen.

Lower_Fill4854@reddit

How do you all get these magical situations where you get tasks that actually have deadlines you get to discuss and negotiate in advance?

mailed@reddit

if the only "deadline" for something is the end of a sprint, I literally don't care. things take as long as they take

alien3d@reddit

do slower phase. Faster change , more bugs and management need to understand the risk it. Where is the scrum master or system architecture ?

DeterminedQuokka@reddit

Couple things:

When you estimate time figure in that you are going to be disrupted. Don’t estimate to always be on time estimate so usually you are slightly early but on time when something unforeseen happens.

Tell people something is going to be late the second you know. Don’t stress for the next week that you aren’t going to make it. When you know say “hey this is going to miss, and get everyone on the same page”.

Maleficent_Slide3332@reddit

Don't burn yourself out. Sleep, eat, workout, and spend time with your family and friends.

arsenal11385@reddit

One good soft skill to learn is setting expectations. Think of each part of your project as a project in itself. When building the milestones out think about the value each of those can bring. This process will earn you credibility and trust because you’ll be able to deliver what you expect because you set the alignment with the stakeholders (the PM, EM, PO, whoever).

GoziMai@reddit

Reset expectations early and reprioritize aggressionly

farfunkle@reddit

If you are getting stressed about missing a sprint goal once a year theres something wrong with you or the job. If its once a year sleep smoke a doobie and sleep like a baby.