Sometimes a stakeholder comes in with a problem that is so dire that it requires you to disrupt the current roadmap. Other times, the stakeholder is just being melodramatic.
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Here are some questions you should ask to decide if you should drop everything and work on this new request:
Cost of delay: How long can this wait until we need to work on it and what is the impact in the meantime?
Opportunity cost: What are the risks of stopping the current work?
Risks: If we don’t do this right away, what’s the worst that could realistically happen?
Dependencies: What else depends on the work currently in progress? Are there follow-on effects of stopping the current work?
Once you have answers, it should become clear how quickly the new request should be worked on, and whether it’s really an emergency. See Chapter 6, Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders.
Boo! Eek!
Melissa Appel and I will lead an open discussion for CPOs on Stakeholder Horror Stories and what we've learned. Thursday, June 27 @ 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT / 6pm CET. Register
Aligned Book Parties
Have a drink, a bite and meet awesome product leaders.
Boston - Thursday, July 11
San Francisco - Wednesday, July 17
More to come...