How do you handle stakeholders requesting constant updates during a process automation project?

Project management and agile ways of delivering a product work best here in my opinion. Create a product backlog of features/updates that are requested, assess for the ones are possible for development, evaluate time to be spent by the developers on each feature and then finalize the scope for a sprint. In this way, you set clear expectations as to what is being delivered as part of that particular sprint for the release of that product update. Any new updates, changes requested can be added to the product backlog and inform the stakeholders that it will be taken in the next sprint. Ofcourse there will always be exceptions here but try to stick the defined plan agreed upon initially.

Acompanhar com daily's ou Weekly, pra entender as dores e garantir que todos os envolvidos est?o alinhados, enquanto ao requisitos de negócios e que o processo atenda todas as áreas, garantindo a seguran?a dos dados.

Managing project related communication channel about timeline and updates is very important factor to clearly define expectations with concerned stakeholders. It needs proper timeframe and mode of channel to convey updates via meetings, reports and weekly emails. With this advanced approach disruptions can be avoided and stakeholders can easily expect updates and planning accordingly.

The beginning of any automation project is arguably the most critical phase. This is the time when everything needs to be crystal clear for everyone involved, especially regarding the outcomes you’re aiming to achieve. Setting expectations from the start is essential—ensure that all stakeholders fully understand the goals, scope, and desired results of the project. By clearly outlining these elements, you create a shared vision that guides the entire team.

This agenda makes sense, but it is not my cup of tea. By emphasizing transparency in Agile methods, ideally in the SCRUM framework, we allow stakeholders to inspect the project continuously through visible artifacts, open communication, and accessible information. This regular inspection enables stakeholders to provide timely feedback, which the team can use to adapt and improve the project in real-time. This cycle of transparency, inspection, and adaptation ensures that stakeholder needs are met without compromising the team's focus and productivity. Therefore making use of all the SCRUM's artifacts and ceremonies, supported by product's value-added vision will do the job. If it doesn't, change the stakeholders before they will change you.

Project management is very important part of process automation . - Establish timelines after thoroughly reviewing the process, including sanity checks in lower environments, development, UAT, and production deployment. - Schedule bi-weekly update calls with the business team to share progress and discuss any challenges the team may be encountering. - Take a proactive approach by holding daily scrums with the developers to address their issues and coordinate with other IT teams for bot-related access.

Per my view, keeping the stakeholders aligned with the project plan and the ongoing status, will help everyone on board to better understand the business priority, technical challenges and the resulting progress. At times, a change might well be seen as the required addition to the ongoing workflow making it even better, thus leading to faster time-to-market. On the contrary, a change - incorporation of which nullifies the ongoing/already accomplished Quality exit criteria might dither the project plan. Hence, any new changes need to be carefully analyzed before deciding their implementation.

There should be a well designed roadmap or planned map to describe information steps, progress, challenges and execution. Everything in this process needs to be perfectly transparent to effectively manage stakeholders. Applying realistic approach about expectations within deadlines along with any potential delays is must to maintain trust and credibility.

You wouldn’t go on a trip without a map or GPS, would you? Thankfully, we have tools like Google Maps to guide us today. Similarly, your project needs a well-crafted plan to navigate its journey. This plan acts as your project’s roadmap, detailing each step and aligning it with the expectations of everyone involved.

The process Automation project plan always has lot of risk noted down and some contigency buffer to take care of those risk. So in most case, there always some room in the plan to manage these risks!!

To manage constant update requests, I store project information on a shared cloud platform and encourage the team to pull information as needed. As a servant leader, I remain at the team's disposal to facilitate their work and promptly clear any obstacles, ensuring smooth progress and effective collaboration.

Utilizing tools that allow stakeholders to track real-time progress. It helps in generating automatic reports and dashboards to allow stakeholder an access, that too without disturbing the workflow of team. It is best possible way for stakeholders to get any required information access at any moment, without raising requests all the time.

Transperant Reporting- I will maintain transparency by sharing both successes and challenges. This builds trust and ensures stakeholders are aware of any potential issues early on. I will use visual aids like Gantt charts, progress bars, and milestone trackers to make the information easily digestible.

If you're going to preach the benefits of automation, why not start by automating your own project management and reporting? By leveraging tools that automate dashboards, reports, and updates, you not only streamline your workflow but also provide a live demonstration of the power of automation. This approach keeps all stakeholders on the same page in real time, offering them a transparent view of progress and achievements. It’s a perfect way to practice what you preach.

One of the issues with the new update request is that it has many smaller hidden updates which impacts many modules of the ongoing projects. So, it becomes imperative to use tools like RCA or FMEA to find out what are the impacts of the failure if the new updates cause. It also gives a chance to all the parties to step back and realized the uncertainty that is coming with this new exercise.

Take a proactive approach by anticipating stakeholder concerns and addressing them before they ask. If you foresee a potential delay or issue, communicate it early along with your plan to resolve it. Proactive communication builds trust and demonstrates that you’re on top of the project, reducing the need for stakeholders to seek constant updates.

Think of proactive communication as playing chess—you’re not just reacting to the moves in front of you, but anticipating your opponent’s next steps well in advance. In your project, this means foreseeing the questions and concerns stakeholders might have and addressing them before they even arise.

To boost bonding and trust level with concerned stakeholders, honest and proactive communication is must to ensure that needs and requirements are being fulfilled on time. To address concerns in a better way, understanding needs is very must. Once concerns get resolved, communicating update with stakeholder helps in establishing trustful relationship.

Proactiveness is the essence of the whole planning exercise. As famously quoted "Plans keep failing , but Planning never fails". Planning is the perfect stage where the execution team need to be proactive in their approach and collected not only the functional requirement on the use cases given by stakeholders but the Non-Functional requirements, Assumptions, Risk etc. This also helps all the parties to connect with each other and start respecting each other’s viewpoint. Since planning phase enables all the parties to take a collective decisions, the subsequent changes are easy to manage and get a collective decisions.

It is always best thing to enhance your results with the help of live feedbacks from receivers end. Once you deliver update to stakeholder, ensure you're asking for valid feedback to understand if they are satisfied with updates and results. It is two way key communication, which helps you to refine process more and more while giving confidence to stakeholder on the other hand that their feedback is been taken seriously.

Nowadays most of the Project execution follows agile scrum methodology where Feedback is an essential part of the whole process. with periodic Demos, Discussions, and Feedback Mechanism all the parties involved in the execution are on the same page and any deviation is rectified as soon as possible.

Encourage stakeholders to provide feedback on the communication process. Ask if the updates are meeting their needs and if there’s anything they’d like to see done differently. By inviting feedback, you can make adjustments that satisfy stakeholders while maintaining a manageable communication flow.

A prática de incentivar feedback dos stakeholders é fundamental em projetos de automa??o de processos. Como profissional, percebo que essa abordagem n?o apenas melhora a transparência, mas também fortalece a rela??o entre a equipe de projeto e os interessados. Quando os stakeholders sentem que suas opini?es s?o valorizadas, a colabora??o se torna mais eficaz e as solu??es geradas s?o mais alinhadas às suas expectativas. é crucial que, ao receber feedback, haja uma resposta ativa, demonstrando que a equipe leva a sério as contribui??es feitas, o que, sem dúvida, potencializa o sucesso do projeto.

You might be able to go fast on your own, but you won’t go far without a strong team by your side. Training your team in effective communication is essential to ensure that everyone moves forward together. Equip them with the skills to convey complex ideas in a way that’s accessible to all stakeholders, ensuring that no one is left behind