One guy who went on a long vacation from our work came back a week later than expected. Then he found out that his computer was not working. These two facts threw a wrench into our already busy schedule.While this developer was away, my boss asked if we could use a member of another team. I said, "Sure." We can use all the help we can get. That may not have been a smart move. The guy needed a lot of help figuring things out. That time took away from other tasks.
The result of all of this was that we were not going to make a delivery date for some software changes. As soon as the customer realized this, the emergency lights came on. The boss called me up and said we would have to work through the weekend. I told him that was not acceptable. This was no surprise that we were not going to make our deliveries. There is no magic that makes a late delivery get delivered on time. Our team triaged to get the new software out. We took a lot of shortcuts. I have found that shortcuts only delay the pain. A high degree of risk is being put on this decision. But hey, I don't want to work all night and all weekend. That would only set up the wrong precedent. You know?
