The next big task had a short turn around. I was working hard to meet a deadline. I told my team lead that I could not take on any other work. Then I got the call back. The managers said the extra work was the priority. I shifted gears, generated another estimate, and said how long it would take. Then I got down to business.
As I am scrambling to stay focused and make up time to beat my estimate, I get an email from a manager berating me. He said we were going to miss a deadline promised to a customer because of my negligence. WTF? I fired back an email stating that we needed a meeting pronto. Somebody had their facts mixed up. I have become really good at estimation. I never miss my estimates, even when everything goes wrong.
I get a response immediately. No need for a meeting. The manager backed off. I responded, carbon copying everyone who was in the first email. If anyone even remotely thought I was the cause of a delay, we needed to meet. I never heard back from anyone.
I can guess what the situation was. Somebody made some promises without knowing the true estimate of the work. Either that, or they did not take into account when the task started. All standard fare. Then they made a mistake. They tried to blame me. Nice try guy.
Now I don't care if someone tries to badmouth me to the customer. And I don't care if you lie to yourself, or to someone else. Just don't expect to send out an accusation to me and not be called out for your BS. I just won't stand for it. Anyone who is competant should not stand for it either.
