A great programmer (and friend) I know recently shared an absolutely wonderful blog post on new systems of software development that got me thinking. Is there a list out there that contains all of the signs of a death march project? I couldn't really find any more than this one here, from Informit. I knew I had one, that I wrote late one night when I couldn't sleep because of the project, and felt this list had to be shared. While it comes no where close to covering all of the signs, it's a start. If you have suggestions of your own, please free to add your comments...
1) One or more persons thinks that with enough hard work, the deadline can be met or the project itself saved.
2) Analysis and documentation give way to haste.
3) Requirements are thought to be elastic.
4) Many commitments made, too few balance checks.
5) Validity, volume and veracity of data is underestimated.
6) Schedules are no longer kept up to date, i.e. what is really happening is hidden.
7) The project owner utters "I should kill this project right now" but doesn't.