As you approach deadlines, it is your job to say no You will almost certainly have occasional deadlines, either goal dates that you’ve set or goal dates that came down from on high. The only way to achieve these goals is to cut scope at the end of the project. That means that you, as the engineering team lead, will partner with your tech lead and the product lead/business representative to figure out what “must-haves” are not actually must-haves. You will have to say no to both sides.
