If you have unlimited resources and no competing priorities on projects to complete, then you have no need to continue reading for you are quite fortunate.
If you are still reading then you must be experiencing a shortage of time, money and/or energy. You may also be a part of an organization that is asking you to complete multiple projects under these constraints.
When project resources are constrained, you have to make a choice: which project to do and how much of it to do. Regardless of your delivery method – predictive (waterfall), adaptive (agile) or hybrid – you must select which resources are applied to how much of the work.
Your stakeholders depend on this choice and wait with anticipation, “When will it be done?”
Sometimes the answer will be – and in fact should be – “It will not be done.” Constrained resources should be focused on the projects that directly affect strategic goals of the organization…which means saying no to those without impact.
Project satisfaction will always be higher when it is delivered quickly (assuming it meets stakeholders’ objectives). Stakeholder dissatisfaction will be lower if told no quickly (relative to being told no after time has passed).
The Trust Breakpoint
The Trust Breakpoint happens when a stakeholders project is not delivered as expected or are told no after too much time has passed. After that point, trust begins to degrade regardless of delivery of not.
Identify and prioritize projects that support strategy
Hopefully your organization has established a strong strategy for the fiscal year. All project proposals should be vetted against those strategies to prepare a prioritized portfolio. A properly prioritized portfolio makes it easy to identify and reject projects that do not directly support those strategies.
The process of communicating the strategy with the project portfolio creates better focus, which in turn helps develop trust. There is alignment on what work will be accomplished and what will not. Both sides must be communicated, allowing everyone to work to the same end and not become distracted with work that will not be done.
Saying no when it is appropriate to do so sets expectations and helps build trust. Whether you deliver or you say no, it is better to do either NOW rather than LATER.
Good luck!
About the author
Mike Knoll is the Senior Delivery Manager for Senturus. With his strong background in BI deployment, architecture and collaboration. Mike ensures our clients and their data connect to business value and ROI.
