[surreal]

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.

[gadders]

Definitely. Being told something like that after you've already publicised your milestone dates is not good...