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Subject:Re: taking too long From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 8 Oct 2002 16:12:46 -0700 (PDT)
--- Genevieve Roberts <gen -at- qrtz -dot- com> wrote:
>
> How do you handle "What's taking so long?"
>
> My boss has asked me that twice, once at three months, once at six months. I
> told him the writing is generally expected to take as long as the coding. He
> said, "Is that on a one-to-one level? Five writers to five coders?" I was
> flummoxed. What would you have said?
I'm reminded of what I believe to be a flawed management theory that goes something
like this: If it takes one man eight hours to sweep a warehouse with one push broom,
how long with it take eight men to sweep the same warehouse using one push broom?
Adding writers doesn't get a document done any faster than adding programmers gets a
product/feature done.
Okay, now that I've tossed a little sarcasm around, it sounds like you need to show
the boss your project plan. Put special emphasis on the number of tasks and the
dependencies. Dependencies in particular can give you, and your boss, an idea of how
many people can be productively employed on a project regardless of whether it's a
writing project or a development project.
Remember, too many cooks end up fighting over the ladle. <g>
Tom Murrell
Metaphors mixed while you wait.
(I am a trained professional. Do not do this at home.) <g>
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