Expert Answer
Anonymous
Ive had some great examples of this challenge. I was working on a high profile project and there was pressure to deliver impossible requirements sooner than anticipated. Immediately, i started a drill to identify the following:
1) understand what is required by order of importance for each task required to complete the project
2) understand how much time is required by each task
3) group with team members to explain impact of change in timeline
4) delegate to other team members with capacity to meet updated timeline
5) understand what can be de-prioritized to a later date
6) come up with a risk table to identify the owner of each task that is a blocker and assign an owner for that task as well as a due date and team responsible for that task. Outline the high level steps needed to carry out the task
I worked on a major project where there was pressure to deliver earlier than that was possible. The project had 60k stakeholders across the board. Steps were taken to meet with the business owners of each area and understand the Minimum viable requirements needed for product delivery. Some compromises were made. An understanding was developed of what is not possible to achieve in the reduced timeline. After reaching a compromise, the teams were apprised of the final agreement and subsequently weekly conversations and executive presentations were held discussing the project progress as well as an updated risk matrix to assess any risks and next steps.
Example of compromises that were made: The business owners were demanding that all their data be migrated to the new platform, but technology is adamant that they can only move 20% of their data. A compromise was made in that technology would deliver 20% of the data, but after the MVP is delivered, they will migrate the rest of the data in phases upto a year after initial MVP delivery. Technology also offered to store the remaining data in a warehouse for the business to have access later on in the interim. A detailed plan for how data can be accessed to the maximum satisfaction of the business to conduct their business in the meantime was provided and that led to a consensus and agreement with 30% increase in stakeholder satisfaction.
Example of Risk Table columns to manage risks: I created a risk matrix which would identify the item at risk along with the names of owners responsible for completing the tasks. The purpose of the table is to keep track of blockers along with a timeline and steps needed to remove the blocker. The risk table was filled out weekly and communicated to stakeholders for transparency.
Example of UAT table:
Itemized list of all items needed for each area of focus as well as sign off owner. UAT sign off owners need to be identified who can sign off on the requirement as being good for product launch.
I created a table which Calculated the percentage of progress of UAT sign off to see progress. For example if there are 20 items to achieve and 10 have received sign off then the sign off percentage would be 50%.
I helped Prepare an executive presentation to leadership to highlight the high level project progress as well as listing out the risk items and noting down any steps that are being taken to reduce any blockers to success.
The final result was that I got CEO recognition for the work done and the project is now viewed as a template for how the rest of the projects should be handled across the organization.