j_e_o (2/16/2012)
My current manager was asking the other day why we had to work so much overtime on the first version of the product (it seems that all the overtime on the second and third version had already been forgotten). Since the manager was also a developer on that same product at the time, I was completely mystified. It seems that the manager is destined to repeat past mistakes. (Here is the formula, just in case you forgot as well: too many features in too little time with too few resources.)
If a lot of overtime is required for completing development on each version of your product then this sounds like poor project management. If your manager is acting as the development manager and project manager then he/she needs to review the project after each delivery and determine what went right and wrong and why the labor estimates were so far off. If the development went fairly well with few mistakes or rework and the developers just gave low labor estimates then the manager should pad those estimates to extend the project timeline. This would give the developers more time to actually do their work and avoid unnecessary OT. If development was flawed and there was a lot of rework and mistakes then that could be due to a myriad number of issues which your manager would need to address (training, poor requirements, scope creep, etc). If the OT is an ongoing occurrence then it sounds like your manager probably needs assistance in the project management side of things.