Unplanned thoughts synonym9/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Mitigating the ProblemĪs we’ve already mentioned, there is no way to completely eliminate unplanned work. So use whichever communication channels suit your team best. Our panelists agreed that your specific communication tactic is not as important as the goal: constant communication with stakeholders. And if you can’t get everyone in the same room at the same time for that, a weekly email can be a good stand-in for a meeting. A weekly meeting with leadership to discuss progress, changes, and new findings may be all it takes to keep everyone on the same page. You don’t necessarily need to prepare lengthy, formal presentations every time something changes. How do you communicate the impact of unplanned work on the execution of planned work? And how can you manage stakeholder expectations when your plan is constantly in flux? Frequent conversations about change are critical. One of the challenges unplanned work presents for product teams is the communication aspect. Of course, there are some situations where unplanned work needs to be handled immediately, and in those cases, you’ll need to do some shuffling to accommodate it. However, establishing a pre-planned buffer within your development cycles is one smart way to keep unplanned work’s impact on the delivery of planned work at a minimum. Often, you can make these decisions on a case-by-case basis. And there is no single “best” approach to tackling reactive work. Meanwhile, 46% of participants said they put reactive work into the backlog or carry it to the next sprint.Įach of the methods above for dealing with unplanned work comes with its own set of pros and cons. 44% told us they take the “squeeze it in” approach. We polled our webinar attendees on how they typically manage reactive work. Establish a dedicated team for reactive work.There are a handful of different ways to handle unplanned, or as our panelists called it, reactive, work. Tactics for Tackling Unplanned WorkĪfter you’ve assessed the importance of new work, you can decide how to actually get it done. At the end of the day, you need to tap into your product manager intuition when it comes time to make decisions about how to proceed. ![]() ![]() The caveat, however, is that these frameworks are only a starting point. These frameworks can help guide discussions with stakeholders and the rest of your team regarding whether unplanned work is urgent or not. For example, weighted scoring or a value vs. In many situations, you can easily apply one of the commonly used product roadmap prioritization frameworks to prioritize unplanned work. Looking at the metrics involved makes it easier to see the importance of the new work and determine the best route forward. “Regardless of how you handle it, it’s really important that before you take on new work, you ask what metrics you’re driving,” she explains. ![]() Otherwise, you risk spending too much time fighting fires. Today we’ll discuss a series of tried and true tactics for this.Īs Teresa Torres points out, before you figure out how you’re getting the work done, it’s wise to ask yourself why. And rather than feeling as though you’re at the beck and call of unplanned work, you can establish a structure for handling it. First, get in the habit of thinking not all unplanned work is inherently bad. What can product teams do about this? The short answer: don’t just expect the unexpected, embrace it. If something new comes in, something must go out.
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