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Making the Right Impression, but Padding the Estimates

In: Stories to Tell Your Students

Author

Listed:
  • Nathan S. Hartman
  • Charles A. Watts

Abstract

Jennifer was the type of employee who wanted to be seen as someone who was relied upon to get the job done and met management expectation. At work everyone knew Jennifer was a hard worker and Audrey her project manager was not surprised to see that Jennifer was the first member of her team to provide an accurate estimate for how long it would take to complete a market research report on a specific trend topic. While the other members had not provided their estimates for the research reports she wanted from them she felt Jennifer’s estimate was reasonable in part because she had a track record of getting her work done on time. Audrey was unaware that when Jennifer estimated it would take her two weeks to deliver her report Jennifer was very confident it could be easily completed within in one week. Jennifer padded her time estimate because she felt it was the best way to be sure she would not disappoint her manager, who was known for her disdain of employees who could not deliver work on time. So, by guaranteeing she would not deliver a late report to Audrey, Jennifer would be viewed as a one of the dependable employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan S. Hartman & Charles A. Watts, 2011. "Making the Right Impression, but Padding the Estimates," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Joan Marques & Satinder Dhiman & Jerry Biberman (ed.), Stories to Tell Your Students, chapter 2, pages 15-17, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-37043-2_7
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230370432_7
    as

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