Re: Pages Per Day

Subject: Re: Pages Per Day
From: Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>
To: Jim Barrow <vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:16:13 -0700

Jim Barrow wrote:

>
> The project manager â and one-upper manager â gave us (are
> you ready for this?) four days to complete the end-user guide.
> The amusing part was that they scheduled five days to decide
> on a table of contents, and two weeks for review.

> Four days.

Run, don't walk to the next meeting--it is going to be memorable and I
think you'll enjoy it a lot. The project manager (PM, the one with the
aggressive schedule) will be there, nervously eyeing those other
managers. Don't stare, but yes, those are they eyes of prayer. PM is
praying that the other managers will continue to provide their
fellowship and support even after they've heard what is going to be said
in the meeting.

This happens because you stayed loose and uncommitted to the desperate
acts of reasoning that everyone expects you to present. You do know that
the PM locker room was buzzing with $500 bets just before the meeting?
The pool is several thousand ducats!

Oh! to be a fly on the wall in this meeting.

Fortunately for your team of writers, you called PM late yesterday
afternoon and left a voice mail saying that you'd like time in the next
meeting for PM to give a brief, specific explanation of how deadlines
are calculated, with the current one as an example. For all intents and
purposes, you said "No, this time let's see *your* numbers!"

And this is how to whip them fair and square, with business questions
and business math. Got MBA? You KNOW it isn't your numbers that are
hinky.

Oh well, maybe PM will be better to work for after this experience.

Congratulations Jim!

>
> Iâm in the process of composing my response to this timeline but,
> short of responding with âdear project manager, since you were
> obviously under massive amounts of narcotics during yesterdayâs
> meeting,â Iâd like to come up with something thatâs a little more
> like metrics and hard facts.

I thought you said the PM was on uppers? Anyway, I hope the pep talk
helps you digest some of the baloney that PM is slicing for your team.

Ned Bedinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com



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References:
Pages Per Day: From: Jim Barrow

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