PM Q&A: clients’ typical questions and project managers’ answers

1. Why will it take so long? How much more time do you need to complete the task?

Truth be told, there is no simple answer to this question. Unfortunately, if the customer asks this question, then they’re unlikely to be happy with the progress. One should always assess the scope before proceeding with the tasks themselves. It is necessary to negotiate the assessment with the customer and warn them in advance if there are any problems/delays or if any additional changes are needed.

2. Let’s engage more developers in the project. Will it accelerate the progress?

Indeed, sometimes bringing in additional specialists to a project can speed up progress, but not always. In some cases, such a decision may, on the contrary, slow down your work. It is pivotal to understand that the process of getting familiar with the project takes time, a new developer will not immediately start working on your tasks, they have to study the project, and get into the swing of work. If one sets out to perform tasks without getting used to the project, a lot of mistakes can be made, both minor and those that can result in serious problems. In general, the first expression coming to mind when discussing additional resources is: “Nine women can’t deliver a baby in a month”, it is impossible to develop, for example, a store website in one day, no matter how many developers you’ve employed. But, for sure, with the correct planning, a lot can be made to work in our favor.

3. Why is the timeline to deliver so long? Another specialist has provided me with a shorter time estimation.

The evaluation is based on the team’s experience of working on similar tasks. If a specialist gave you an assessment with a quick delivery time, then there is a possibility that they may have missed/failed to take into account something or just don’t fully understand what is included in the task scope. In this case, it is better to consult colleagues so that they also can evaluate the task, then there will be an opportunity to compare the results and discuss them. Also, the assessment is significantly affected by the quality of the task, quite often the following scenario can take place: the less time a specialist has provided you with, the worse the result may be.

4. Can you work on the weekend?

Occasionally, customers want to speed up the development process by working on the weekend, neglecting the specialists’ emotional and physical state. This is not the best solution, as employees need time to restore their energy and maintain work-life balance. From my own experience, I can say that an exhausted worker means an ineffective worker.
However, there are some exceptions when working on a day off is a must. For example, when a developer pushed the changes that caused some kind of bug or made the system crash. In that case, there is no choice but to fix the situation, regardless of the day of the week. It is important to note that with good planning, there will be no need to work on the weekend.

5. What are those additional hours in the invoice?

Customers can quite often believe that specialists should only track the immediate time spent on the task. But things work differently in reality, it is necessary to conduct a thorough investigation before starting the work, and only after that some possible solutions can be suggested. Drilling down the task, as well as writing the code, is a crucial part of developers’ work, which means that the time to complete it must be paid. The most appropriate thing to be done in such situations is to explain these points to the customer and agree on them before any actual work on the task.

6. Can you allocate more time to testing, but at the same time complete all your developing tasks on time?

Recently, we’ve encountered a situation where the customer insists that developers spend more time testing the functionality they are working on.
Of course, a developer should always test the code being implemented, but it is important to note that there are specially trained employees to conduct test runs, and these are QA specialists.
An experienced QA possesses the knowledge and skills necessary for full-fledged testing and uses various testing methods - manual, automated, functional, load testing, etc.
Involving a Quality Assurance Specialist in the project not only improves the quality of the final result but also allows the developer to focus directly on the development of the application within the agreed time frame.

All things considered, the key points in working on any project are planning, professional assessment, teamwork, and high-quality communication with the client. If the flow of work is built and communication is established, then most of the listed questions and problems simply do not arise.

Interview with our Project Managers Valeria D., Maria Y.