[Arrezz]

I have been struggling with scope creep for deadlines at my work, I am a junior dev and I have a product owner that means well but changes requirements several times and increases scope mid sprint. How do you push back against this in a nice and reasonable manner?

[commandlinefan]

There’s an old saying: “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It’s supposed to be inspirational, but it’s actually depressing because it’s so accurate. How do you put it into action as a dev? Never argue. Ever. If you argue, you’ll lose the argument anyway (you have no power), and they’ll just remember you as the person who was argumentative. If they say, “can you add AI to this product by Friday?” You say, “yeah, sure, let me look into that.” In a sane, rational, just world, everybody would be working together on a shared, common vision, and they’d realize that by giving you herculean tasks with impossible deadlines that nobody could achieve they’re actually hurting themselves as much as (if not more) than they’re hurting you, but the grim reality is that that isn’t the world we live in. If they add scope, just shrug and accept it. Don’t kill yourself with nights and weekends trying to meet their deadlines either - just say, unapologetically, “I was able to do ___ and I’m still working on ___”.

[twic]

Don't push back. That is, don't try to stop them doing this. It is absolutely within the product owner's purview to change and enlarge requirements at any time.

But make it clear to them when they do this that there is a cost. "We estimated building the profile page based on doing it in one language; we can certainly internationalise it now, but it will take quite a bit longer". It's then up to them to decide whether the cost is worth the benefit.

As long as you are working as well and efficiently as you can on the work you have been given, you can feel satisfied with yourself.

Unless of course you're being judged for schedule slips caused by your product owner, in which case you're screwed, and you should quit and find a job somewhere less awful.

[thomk]

Document the truth.

If you are employed and a product owner is required to give you your workload, you are kinda of stuck. The best you can do is illustrate (over time) that you are unable to get things done because of changing priorities.

Put together a collaborative document where you write what you understand to be your tasks. When a task changes or a new one is added, add a new entry with a date/time. Invite him to see it and ask him to bookmark it because you want to be clear on what you should be working on.

This is a good thing to have around review time as well, because you may be confronted with 'It doesn't seem like you are very productive'.

Also if it is possible that your priorities are not changing as much as you thought, this is a good exercise for yourself as well.

[DeBraid]

Be open about the challenges of context switching and how that may lower your overall productivity.

Use specific examples (so everyone can learn) and avoid making about people by focusing on the jobs to be done.

If you're not comfortable bringing this up to boss directly, shoot through a Sr dev first (who may coach you around the issues / validate your concerns), or, Sr dev may speak up when needed to support your cause should you bring it to the group/boss.

[perlgeek]

"This is not what the story said when we started the sprint. Could you please make this change new story for the next sprint?"