- Developers struggle with detailed hour-by-hour estimates for novel projects; providing padded estimates leads to schedule conflicts.
- Project managers ask for granular estimates to shift accountability and avoid their own commitments, often due to insecurity.
- Instead of hourly breakdowns, identify mutual 'wait points' where each party must deliver (e.g., specs, content, approvals).
- Force the other party to commit to their deadlines and deliverables, mirroring the pressure they put on developers.
- Developers with strong project intuition can trade flexibility in exchange for relief from micro-deadlines.
- The approach requires the developer to already be capable of meeting major milestones (e.g., UI demo deadlines).