What do you do if your IT project is facing unexpected changes?

In my career, I've steered many IT projects through sudden changes. Once, a project faced a major regulatory shift. I quickly assessed the impact, adjusted our plans, and reallocated resources. I learned the importance of clear communication, maintaining transparency with stakeholders to manage expectations. Engaging my team for solutions and consulting external experts when necessary proved invaluable. Monitoring progress and being adaptable allowed us to stay on track. Documenting every change helped in accountability and future planning. Each project has been a lesson in resilience, adaptability, and the importance of proactive risk management.

Things change constantly. When unexpected changes occur, it's time to step back and evaluate how they influence the project's scope, timeline, budget, and quality. Quantifying these aspects is vital to grasping the change's magnitude. A thorough assessment allows clear communication with stakeholders and team members, providing a realistic view of the project's adjusted state. This foundational step ensures that all subsequent actions to mitigate the change are based on accurate and detailed information, aligning everyone towards a common understanding and approach.

It is very important to have a proactive recovery plan that anticipates this barriers that occurs in IT projects. This plan has to be updated periodically according to new events and conditions that migth appear.

If you have not assessed the impact of diffrent path in the beginning it is time now to do. I was in one project that should have taken 5 month and lasted the double. It was a night mare. I turned to an experienced scrum master and ask to help to evaluate after we had been 3 month into the project. To assess the progress continuely ( every two weeks with short demo and updates) to assure that what you are going to get as a customer is what you need. This helps both sides to be clear what the expectations are.

According to me, reassuring the teams is essential. It involves sharing the available information about these unexpected changes. It is then with these teams that the best approach can be identified, and this will subsequently engage them in the new direction that will be chosen.

95% of project challenges are "people and/or process," not the technology or product. Getting stakeholders to give input - on the problem ....and potential solutions fosters buy-in, creative and collaborative problem solving, and often a speed to outcomes not otherwise acheivable.

Transparency is key; communicate the facts and potential consequences with your stakeholders. This dialogue helps manage expectations, as satisfied and happy stakeholders are as important as delivering the project itself! Stakeholders may propose insights or solutions previously unconsidered. Securing their buy-in is essential for successfully implementing any modifications to the project plan. This approach ensures that all parties are informed and involved in decision-making, facilitating a unified response to the changes.

Effective Stakeholder Engagement in Projects Successful projects depend on proactive stakeholder engagement. Start by assessing any project changes, then communicate these openly to all stakeholders—clients, team members, and investors. Use meetings, detailed emails, or presentations to provide clear facts and potential impacts, ensuring transparency and building trust. Invite feedback through surveys or discussion forums to involve them in decision-making. This approach not only manages expectations but also encourages collaboration, leading to innovative solutions and stronger project buy-in.

The sooner you can communicate unexpected changes to a project's stakeholders-- the better. Keep it concise and fact-based. Avoid "sugar coating" that may come across as disingenuous and avoid editorializing, blaming, or over-explaining. At this stage of engagement it's important to focus on the inputs and outcomes.

My recommendation is to involve key stakeholders while assessing the impact instead of engaging them afterwards. Perspective of each user might unearth some of the key issues / challenges, particularly taking opinion from seniors in the project (roles doesn't matter) and people who have got great knowledge about their respective product. This doesn't mean you involve everyone, you need to pick and choose based on their knowledge, experience, contribution etc. Maintain RACI (Responsible, Accoutable, Consulting, Informed) matrix by listing all the stakeholders to set the expectation and establish transparency. In Agile, it is implicit since all teams participate in ceremonies.

Let’s say you're an architect with a blueprint for a beautiful house. Suddenly, an "Earthquake" of change occurs, altering the soil and materials. Adjusting plans in the face of change is crucial. It allows for navigation around obstacles, new materials and keeping the team informed. It might take longer, but it ensures the house's safety and success. When your project faces unexpected changes, see it as an opportunity to showcase your adaptability. Adjust your plans, navigate through the changes, and build a house that's not just beautiful, but also safe and sturdy. Because sticking to the original plan, despite the changes, is like trying to build a house on shaky ground. It might get you a house, but it could also lead to a collapse.

Projects face unexpected changes very frequently. This is just how running a project works. You have to monitor progresses regularly in order to be able to adapt quickly to changes and evaluate impacts. Communication, transparency and stakeholders commitment are key to respond to the challenges ahead with clear risk assessment and plan adjustment.

Following my experience we may propose to add the scope change to the project while at the same time we remove another "part" from it. This could be an agreement with the Business to stay in the scope, budget and planning, accessing at the same time to the request of our customer. We may also propose to pospone the scope change to the end of the project on a new contract. If there is really a urgency, we'll always find a way to put in in the scope with an update of the contract.

Adjusting Project Plans After Stakeholder Engagement Once stakeholders are engaged, adapt your project plans to reflect their input. This may include redefining goals, reallocating resources, or adjusting timelines. Prioritize tasks based on new objectives and constraints. Document all changes thoroughly in your project plan and communicate these updates clearly to everyone involved. Adopting a flexible and agile approach allows your team to efficiently adapt to the new direction, ensuring continued alignment and progress toward project success.

Project Plan and schedule will be modified to ensure it reflects the approved Change requests in Waterfall. Changes are discussed and reviewed thouroughly while doing impact assessment and then communicated to stakeholders. In Agile it is very straightforward add change as new 'User Story' and pull that into appropriate sprint and do include that in Sprint Planning meeting to take it forward.

Deploy good governance procedures to track the progress of change implementation and monitor it closely to ensure we are not deviating from the estimated budget and timelines. Sometime unknown factors are always there in some complex systems / environments where Application / product integrates with many systems. Make sure you add enough buffer (effort) in the initiate estimate to deal with that. Have regular meetings to identify issues and risks with respect to change implementation.

Change management is key. Continuous and understandable communications, awareness meetings and trainings are necessary when we implement any change on the organization.

Navigating Unexpected Changes in Tech Projects When unexpected changes hit your tech project, assess their impact first. Communicate clearly with your team and stakeholders, and adjust your project plan accordingly. View changes as opportunities for innovation and apply change management strategies to smooth transitions. Continuously monitor the impact and iterate your approach. By embracing flexibility and maintaining open communication, you can navigate any change effectively and keep your project on track.

Plano de A??o: Desenvolva um plano de a??o detalhado para implementar as altera??es necessárias. Isso deve incluir etapas específicas, responsáveis e prazos. Aloca??o de Recursos: Garanta que os recursos necessários estejam disponíveis e sejam alocados adequadamente para implementar as mudan?as. Isso pode incluir a mobiliza??o de equipes adicionais ou a contrata??o de consultores externos.

Progress monitoring is key point in project management. The 3+1 pilars from my experience are: the Scope, the Planning, the Costs + the Quality. Each project manager must know where he is on these 3+1 points. Let's take an example: we've achieved 50% of the scope in 45% of the time, for 75% of the budget. Is this project running well ? And what about the quality of the code, of the documentation, of the interfaces, of... Risk management is also one key point, often forgotten.

Monitoring is something very essential particularly when we are dealing with Changes. Highlighting impediments / issues / risks in daily meetings and address those periodically will help to deliver the changes ontime.

After implementing changes, continuously monitor your project's progress using appropriate tools and regular check-ins. This ensures the project adapts well to new conditions and identifies areas needing further adjustment. Regular feedback sessions with your team assess the effectiveness of the changes and maintain alignment with project goals. Continuous monitoring is crucial for staying proactive and adjusting strategies as needed, keeping the project on track toward successful completion. Monitoring 5 key factors : -Management. -Planning. -Organization and roles. -Evaluation and KPIs -Transparency

Métricas e KPIs: Estabele?a métricas claras e KPIs (Indicadores Chave de Desempenho) para monitorar o progresso das altera??es. Utilize ferramentas de gerenciamento de projetos para acompanhar as tarefas e identificar problemas precocemente. Revis?es Regulares: Conduza revis?es regulares do progresso com a equipe do projeto e stakeholders para garantir que as altera??es est?o sendo implementadas conforme planejado e para fazer ajustes se necessário.

From my experiences, frequent communication with team members and stakeholders becomes even more critical when an IT project is facing unexpected changes. I have led many large, complex and costly programs - and considering today's dynamic and almost unpredictable context, changes should be expected - so be prepared to manage them. When changes happen, naturally stakeholders will become concerned about the project's progress, budget, and timeline. Then, clear and timely communication is essential to maintain trust and confidence both within the team and for that audience. Effective communication will help to manage stakeholders' expectations on the impact of changes, and will also open the dialogue for support on an eventual scope change.

Communication is important an critical. But too much communication kills the communication. I prefer to reserve some dedicated moments for the communication (like daily meetings) to enforce this communication and to preserve people after in their work.

Strategies for Continuous Communication in Change Management To effectively manage project changes through communication: Regular Updates: Schedule weekly meetings and send concise email updates to keep stakeholders informed. Interactive Tools: Use platforms like Slack or Asana for real-time discussions and progress tracking. Feedback Mechanisms: Encourage feedback through surveys and suggestion boxes to involve stakeholders and gather insights. Open Door Policy: Maintain transparency with an open door policy that allows direct communication of concerns and suggestions. These methods ensure continuous engagement, transparency, and alignment with project goals.

Atualiza??es Regulares: Forne?a atualiza??es regulares sobre o status das altera??es para todas as partes interessadas. Use uma combina??o de reuni?es, e-mails e plataformas de comunica??o colaborativa. Transparência: Seja transparente sobre os desafios e os sucessos. Manter todos informados ajuda a manter o moral e a confian?a na gest?o do projeto.

Capacita??o da Equipe: Ofere?a capacita??o e suporte à equipe para que possam lidar eficazmente com as mudan?as. Isso pode incluir treinamentos específicos ou workshops. Gerenciamento de Riscos: Revise e atualize o plano de gerenciamento de riscos do projeto para incluir novos riscos decorrentes das mudan?as. Desenvolva planos de contingência para lidar com possíveis problemas futuros. Flexibilidade e Adapta??o: Promova uma cultura de flexibilidade e adapta??o dentro da equipe do projeto. Encoraje a equipe a ser proativa na identifica??o de problemas e na proposi??o de solu??es criativas.

It is better to determine the opportunities and threats caused by changes and control measures and the effectiveness of the measures in the project risk registration documents. Also, the lessons learned for similar or subsequent projects should be shared with the project stakeholders.