Reading an interesting article on time buffering on pmStudent.com. The article talks about if time buffering is dishonest.
The project manager wants to be honest and straight and wants to convey the actual release date to the team and find out a win-win way.
Josh has shared his thoughts that are in alignment with what a general good practice should be. That is to be open and honest to a maximum possible extent with the teams, customer and sponsors.
Having said that there are times when Time buffering might be a part of the risk mitigation strategy. If keeping the Schedule secret is initiated by the Sponsor or Customer then there are cases where the Project Manager has to respect that.
As a project manager, your primary focus should be to ensure that the project is delivered by the Schedule. Secrecy of the schedule itself cannot be considered as a dishonest act. If it is confidential, then it is confidential.
But if you keep the secrecy of the schedule for your own hidden intention then it is a dishonest act and should be avoided.
