I work in a small web development company (3 programmers) for a while. During th
ID: 651532 • Letter: I
Question
I work in a small web development company (3 programmers) for a while. During the last year the company had hard times (less projects) and a few co-workers were fired, including our Production Manager. Having this person out of our team mean to us that we have to deal more and more with the company bosses (owners). It's them who meet the clients and discuss about upcoming projects (custom web app for example)
We had a meeting with the boss this week about a particular project for which he wants the specs to change (add a few features). I understand that in the real world specs always change during a project (I'm in this business for almost 10 years, I already figured that). What I am having hard time with is when the boss keeps trying to minimize the complexity, the impacts of the new specs because in his mind those changes are not that hard and should not take a lot more time (especially because he already signed a contract with our client for a fixed amount of money). With one programmer co-worker we joked about that, saying that it's not by adding two wings on a car that you will make plane, it has major impact on the whole design of the vehicle, time required is not the same, so is the same with software.
Any idea how we should handle that kind of attitude from a boss? Is it possible to make him change his minding in that kind of situation ?
Explanation / Answer
While all of the feedback so far is good it is all recommending methods to change your bosses approach and trust me this is a futile effort that will ultimately result in you getting more and more frustrated.
Your boss, like mine and many others has a broader view of the company than us mere developers. They are concerned with customer satisfaction, repeat business and the word of mouth and reputation that comes from delivering what the customer wants even if it is out of scope.
Now I understand that for large development houses that take on government projects worth millions of dollars it is really important to get all the scope and details nailed down from the outset to ensure the overall success of the project. I do not think you work for such a company.
You mentioned that you recently lost your production manager, buddy... it's time for you to adapt and step up to the plate here. Your company is under some financial strain obviously and at least you still have a job here. I'm sure your boss is shitting his pants on a daily basis doing everything he can to keep you going ( including taking the last resort of firing people )
So to sum up, I think you should work differently and adapt to the new situation.. adopt a more Agile development style and put the customers needs first.
There is something fun about flying by the seat of your pants. You only need to be direct with your boss and tell him what you said here. Most of all understand he is human so be a little compassionate and explain that with the loss of your PM some of the processes that were once in place have come unstuck.. But at the same time explain you understand the pressures he is under and if he can accept that the developers are going to have to wing it for a while and make mistakes then that's all you need to say - he can never come back and say you didn't warn him at the very least.