How do you adapt your plans when Product R&D projects change?

1 Assess the impact

The first step to adapt your plans is to assess the impact of the change on your project scope, schedule, budget, and quality. You need to identify what has changed, why it has changed, and how it affects your project goals and deliverables. You also need to communicate the change to your stakeholders and team members, and get their feedback and input. Depending on the magnitude and urgency of the change, you may need to revise your project charter, scope statement, work breakdown structure, and other planning documents.

2 Prioritize and negotiate

The second step to adapt your plans is to prioritize and negotiate the project requirements and expectations with your stakeholders and team members. You need to balance the trade-offs between scope, time, cost, and quality, and determine what is feasible and desirable for your project. You may need to negotiate with your customers, sponsors, and other stakeholders to agree on the revised project scope, schedule, budget, and quality standards. You may also need to negotiate with your team members to allocate resources, assign tasks, and resolve conflicts.

3 Implement and monitor

The third step to adapt your plans is to implement and monitor the change in your project execution and control. You need to update your project management plan, baselines, and performance measurements to reflect the change. You also need to execute the revised project activities, deliverables, and processes according to the updated plan. You need to monitor the project progress, performance, and risks, and report the status and issues to your stakeholders and team members. You need to be ready to adapt your plans again if new changes arise or if the change does not produce the expected results.

4 Learn and improve

The fourth step to adapt your plans is to learn and improve from the change in your project closure and evaluation. You need to document the change, its impact, and its outcomes in your project records and lessons learned. You also need to evaluate the change process, its effectiveness, and its challenges in your project review and feedback. You need to identify the best practices, successes, and failures from the change, and share them with your stakeholders and team members. You need to apply the learning and improvement to your future projects and continuous improvement.

5 Be flexible and agile

The fifth step to adapt your plans is to be flexible and agile in your project mindset and approach. You need to embrace change as an opportunity to innovate, improve, and satisfy your customers. You also need to be agile in your project methods, tools, and techniques, and use iterative, incremental, and adaptive processes to deliver value and quality. You need to be flexible in your project roles, responsibilities, and collaboration, and foster a culture of trust, transparency, and feedback among your stakeholders and team members.