(Disclaimer: If this information is already being disseminated in a frequently recurring manner I've yet to find it, and apologize in advance for my presumption.)
PROPOSAL: Weekly updates via opt-in/out email or forum post that provides target delivery dates (in increments of month (preferable) or quarter) for high value features that are missing from L4 or have risen to the top of to-be-included-and-under-development pile. Bonus points if the updates came from Bob or a highly placed manager in product development.
DISCUSSION: Adventures in delivery of the PBB, and Sermon File Addin (which is Still In The Hopper (SITH)), and the resultant userbase pressure to deliver, accusations, frustrations, and almost daily forum posts asking about data conversion for their old PBs, sermon files, and more, speak for themselves. At a minimum, they all contribute to an excellent run-on sentence. [H]
COST: Negligible. If the DevBoss and CEO aren't getting their own weekly status reports, things must have changed dramatically since I retired. I still have project plans with dated milestones that haven't matured, and I've been retired for nearly 8 years.
BENEFITS: If a feature is on a tangible schedule, even if the schedule slips (and we all know that every planned software delivery date slips [8-|]... its the nature of the creative process), the pressure is off. Users know what to expect, and within flexible parameters, when to expect it.
