Overheard a project manager say 'always ask for the deadline twice' and it clicked for me

I was at a coffee shop near my office in Denver last Tuesday and heard a PM talking to a junior dev. She said you ask once to get the date, then ask again to see if they actually mean it. I tried this on my last project at work. The first time my boss said 'next Friday,' then when I asked again he laughed and said 'okay next Wednesday is real.' Now I do this with every assignment and it saves me from rushing on fake deadlines. Has anyone else tried something like this to figure out which deadlines are real?

3 comments

3 Comments

sullivan.spencer25d agoMost Upvoted

Next Friday to Wednesday is only two days difference, that's insane.

sullivan.spencer25d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're saying two days is actually a pretty big gap though, right?

elliot_barnes17d ago

Two days is huge when you're the one staying late to hit it. I once asked twice and the deadline moved from a month to next week, so at least yours got easier.