What is your strategy for assessing the impact of a change in timelines?

Question

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

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.

Anonymous · Answer

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:  An example of a risk table
includes: a) Task Name, b) Task Owner Name, c) Task Department Name, d) Task
Department Executive Name, e) Next Update Date, f) Immediate Steps required to
overcome 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.

Anonymous · Answer

In my previous job, I was in charge of a new TCU release but, just one month
before PVT date our customer decided to change some product specifications, but
they still wanted us to get the project finished within the original schedule.
The changes impacted on Bluethooth, Wifi, and GPS modules,
T: So I immediately met with the core-team. Some team members suggested to go
back to the customer to request an extension. So, I analyzed the situation and I
suggested to keep working to meet the new demand by using our expertise and
lessons learned from other projects to fix the issue.
A: To address the situation, I worked overtime every day for a month and led a
special task force. I established daily opening and closing meetings with the
team to define priorities and prevent duplicated efforts among the
cross-functional team. I decided with the team to split the problem into two
branches: hardware (HW) and software (SW). From the HW perspective, we agreed to
reuse existing compatible validated and qualified modules to save time. SW was
more complex, so we chose to release the product with only the main
functionalities initially, focusing on the lower layers of SW. During the
one-month lead time for shipment by boat, we utilized that time to complete the
remaining applications and functionalities, which were then updated via OTA.
R: Finally, We achieved the goal and completed the project successfully and our
team was awarded with the best Performer Team award.

Anonymous · Answer

When I started to as PM in China, I was responsible for managing a Project for
an important customer. After few days in charge of this program, the Engineering
Manager provided feedback that my Project schedule was not feasible based on the
testing requirements defined by his team. This automatically delayed the first
EVT delivery.
Then, immediately asked for a meeting with the Engineering team to get more
specific feedback and understand what was missing in my schedule, what were the
technical requirements and why these testing was so important.
I took the inputs and spent some time analyzing in detail all technical
requirements, reviewing with different core team members all activities Lead
Times, dependences between tasks and looking at other projects data to identify
patterns.
With all these inputs, I created a new plan. I coordinated a daily opening and
closing meetings with the core team to monitor activities and prevent task
duplication between cross-functional teams. I also highlighted the issue to my
manager and explained him the root cause of the problem, and the new plan.
Together we informed our customer about the delay and kept working together to
reach the new committed schedule.
Finally, we delivered the EVT units to our customer according to the new
schedule. My manager also acknowledged the effort to enhance the customer
satisfaction, and the experience showed me the importance of being honest and
proactive in communication. From this day I also keep 2 weeks of buffer in my
programs schedule

Anonymous · Answer

I would assess the impact the change has on the projects RAID register (Risks,
Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies). If the change to the timeline impacts the
critical path (determined by mapping the critical path on a Gantt chart) then
there is an impact to the delivery date of the project. I would work with the
stakeholders to understand the root cause of the change (technology, resources,
budget, quality) and develop mitigations. For example, it is possible/better to
reduce scope or increase resources to meet the planned timeline? As an example,
I was working on a project where we found that significant quality issues with a
voice to text service in some languages we were evaluating. We had to integrate
a new solution to meet the quality bar. I worked with the stakeholders to phase
the delivery so the languages that were working accurately were shipped on time
while the team worked on integrating the new solution with the remaining
languages which we then shipped 2 weeks later.

Anonymous · Answer

The best way to assess the impact of  change in timelines, would be to check how
the shift in timeline has affected the critical path of the project, and
determine how it changes the overall delivery schedule. For example while I was
working at Intel the delivery of 2 important ICs was delayed  by 2 weeks, this
impacted few internal teams in their assembly and board testing schedule.
However I made sure that our team was transparent with the stakeholders and kept
them posted on all activities. I managed to arrange for extra test equipment so
that parallel testing could be done once the IC arrives.
Meanwhile I also informed the stake holders that we were looking into expedited
shipping options and checking with other vendors for the earliest availability
of those ICs

Anonymous · Answer

The best way to assess the impact of  change in timelines, would be to check how
the shift in timeline has affected the critical path of the project, and
determine how it changes the overall delivery schedule. For example while I was
working at Intel the delivery of 2 important ICs was delayed  by 2 weeks, this
impacted few internal teams in their assembly and board testing schedule.
However I made sure that our team was transparent with the stakeholders and kept
them posted on all activities. I managed to arrange for extra test equipment so
that parallel testing could be done once the IC arrives.

Anonymous · Answer

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.

Anonymous · Answer

Identify their impact on critical paths. Understand which critical paths are
affected and if there is any way to reduce the impact. Communicate the situation
to the team and stakeholders. Request additional resources and help if
possible.

Anonymous · Answer

The impact of change in timelines is best assessed in terms of the impact it
will have on the KPIs/metrics of the task attached with the time change. The
metrics can be revenue, a conversion metric, launch etc.

Anonymous · Answer

When there is a new scope request to be included in middle of sprint / project
work timelines . Its important to Identify the  technical aspect of new scope ,
discussion with the team of breakdown of the work & current impact to workflow .
Prioritization & timelines needs to be addressed with Product Owners / Business
& Tech Team  .   Have a discussion with the team to determine  breakdown of the
work in subtask & also the additional capacity required for completing the task
/ work & timelines adjustment required for competing the additional scope change
. Present a updated plan that will give a clear picture - on Scope of work to
the completed ( breakdown of the task & timelines ) , Team dependency  &
alignment ( internal & external  ) and highlighting the risk mitigation strategy
. Publish the plan to all the stakeholders with outlining the timelines ,
objectives & release plan , Alignment with all the internal & external team

Anonymous · Answer

When there is a new scope request to be included in middle of sprint / project
work timelines . Its important to Identify the  technical aspect of new scope ,
discussion with the team of breakdown of the work & current impact to workflow .
Prioritization & timelines needs to be addressed with Product Owners / Business
& Tech Team  .   Determine the breakdown of the work in subtask & also the
additional capacity required for completing the task / work & timelines
adjustment required for competing the additional scope change . Present a
updated plan that will give a clear picture - on Scope of work to the completed
( breakdown of the task & timelines ) , Team dependency  & alignment ( internal
& external  ) and highlighting the risk mitigation strategy .

Anonymous · Answer

Identify the scope of the activities  to be included , define the prioritization
of the work based on discussion with Prod team .  Determine the breakdown of the
work in subtask & also the additional capacity required for completing the task
/ work . Address the workload and reprirotization of the work & timelines

Anonymous · Answer

Identify all the critical tasks that would be impacted by a change of timelines.
Work on a risk mitigation plan and review the impact with the team.

Anonymous · Answer

Determine the impact on critical path and existing float within your schedule,
determine work load and plan for your personnel resources, review risk and
mitigation plans

What is your strategy for assessing the impact of a change in timelines?

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