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Manager: We (meaning you) need to do task A. How long will it take?

Me: Task A will take X days to do.

Manager: That seems awful long.

Me: How long do you think it should take?

Manager: It surely could not take any longer than Y days.

Me: Ok, it seems you have an answer to your question then.

Later:

Manager: It’s been Y days, why isn’t task A done yet?

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[-] josephc@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago

I used to hate this. I still hate it, but I used to hate it, too.

More seriously, something that has helped from my managers is getting a "product requirements doc" or PRD. Management and customer reps put together a requirements document that says what they need built. Then you can break it down into work units for yourself and estimate the size with milestones and deliverables. It helps a bunch, even if it's extra overhead at the start.

[-] tinfoilhat@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

I do this often. I make product roadmaps, define my epics, etc. but a lot of times, in my work as a SWE consultant, the requirements are a moving target.

this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2026
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