>> (Unobvious-to-younguns true fact about managing: managers often need predictability a lot more than they need speed.)
As a project manager of approaching 20 years experience, I would agree with this. Some things can be fixed with temporary extra effort, but a lot of things can't. If a task I budgeted x days for is going to take 3x days, I'd rather know asap. That way, alternative steps can be taken - scope can be cut, extra people can be assigned, deadlines can be moved or budgets can be changed.
It's better to have these hard conversations as soon as possible.
And equally, sometimes the deadlines are somewhat arbitrary because the manager doesn't know any better. I've seen situations where a manager has said "so you'll have this done in a week, yes?", and a response of "I actually suspect it would take 3 weeks because X" was received most gratefully. Deadlines are sometimes set on a whim, not by some external necessity.
As a project manager of approaching 20 years experience, I would agree with this. Some things can be fixed with temporary extra effort, but a lot of things can't. If a task I budgeted x days for is going to take 3x days, I'd rather know asap. That way, alternative steps can be taken - scope can be cut, extra people can be assigned, deadlines can be moved or budgets can be changed.
It's better to have these hard conversations as soon as possible.