Software Development Cross Solution - Index of - Free

eaking realistic but bad news
Managing pissed off customers
Customers usually aren’t happy when you tell them you can’t get everything done
in the time they want. Be honest, though; you want to come up with a plan for
Milestone 1.0 that you can achieve, not a plan that just says what the customer
wants it to say.
So what do you do when this happens?
It’s almost inevitable that you’re not going to be able to do everything, so it helps to be
prepared with some options when you have to tell the customer the bad news...
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[Note from human resources: we prefer the
term unsympathetic customers.]
Add an iteration to Milestone 1.0
Explain that the extra work can be done if an additional iteration is added to the plan. That
means a longer development schedule, but the customer will get what they want in Milestone 1.0.
42 x 3 = 126
Another iteration gives your team plenty of time
to develop all the customer’s stories—but that
pushes out the release date of Milestone 1.0, too.
Explain that the overflow work is not lost, just postponed
Sometimes it helps to point out that the user stories that can’t make it into Milestone 1.0 are not
lost; they are just put on the back burner until the next milestone.
Title:
Title:
Title:
14 days
Pay with Visa/
Take MC/PayPal shuttle Specify window or
booking aisle seat
View Shuttle
deals
Manage special
View flight reviews
and offers
Title:
15 days
15 days 15 days
Est:
Title: Est:
Title:
Priority: 10
Est:
Title:
Est:
Priority: 10 Priority:
Est:
Est: Est:
Priority: 10
Priority: Priority: 10 20
15 days
Choose seatingIn-
12 days
Title: Apply for Space
Est:
Priority: 20
12 days
Miles Review Loyalty flight
Title:
14 days
13 days
Est:
Priority: 40
Priority: 30
Milestone 1.0
...and has you on a fast track to failure!
Be transparent about how you came up with your figures
It sounds strange, but your customer only has your word that you can’t deliver everything
they want within the deadline they’ve given you, so it sometimes helps to explain where you’re
coming from. If you can, show them the calculations that back up your velocity and how this
equates to their needs. And tell your customer you want to deliver them successful software,
and that’s why you’ve had to sacrifice some features to give yourself a plan that you are
confident that you can deliver on.
Title:
Est:
Title:
Login to “Frequent
View “Space Miles”
Title:
15 days 13 days
Est:
Est:
Priority:
Priority:
Download at WoweBook.Com
Pay using “Space Miles”
15 days
Priority: 50
Milestone .Next
These extra stories aren’t
trashed—they just fall into
Milestone 2.0. Are space miles
so important that they’re
worth starting over with a
new development team?