Business Tools Blog

I had a deja vu moment today.  I checked on a milestone for a project and learned that it hadn’t been completed because someone said, “No.”   I was surprised, because no one had been notified.  A stakeholder had concerns over a data upload and the project just stopped, dead in its tracks.   We lost 2 days.

I was marveling at how this could happen.  That is when I was swept into the deja vu moment. I recalled working at a company where just about anyone could say “No” and veto a project.  This was extremely frustrating, because it’s nearly impossible to get every stakeholder to agree on every part of a project when the project is still conceptual.

You know that you are in this type of environment, when requirements meetings include at least 1 stakeholder from every group, and 1 or 2 IT people.  The meeting demographic looks like this:

The infamous stakeholder meeting is more painful than foot surgery.  Many of the stakeholders have never participated in the current process and will never even use the new software - but these stakeholders are important and can’t be left out, or ignored.  When these meetings turn into a weekly event, MEGO develops.  Since there is no prototype to look at, each stakeholder envisions their own solution.  The requirements begin to conflict and then the “No’s” start.  Soon, the stakeholders get frustrated, and blame IT for not being able to develop.  IT blames the stakeholders for giving them bad requirements.  And NOTHING gets accomplished.

When you aren’t working in an Agile Mentality environment, a single “No” can cause an entire project to come to a screeching halt.  Days/weeks/months could be lost while other stakeholders try to persuade the single “No” to change his/her mind.

When using agile software development, you can Just Say No to No.   Understanding that development is quick and incremental relieves the fear that if I don’t say no, I will be stuck with the consequences forever. It also eliminates the need for large meetings.  Stakeholders can be consulted on the piece of the project that concerns them, and when they see the first and second phase up and running they can provide feedback.  It’s a good place to be.

We might not get it 100% right the first time, but we will keep getting closer to the right answer, while others are still trying to overcome “No.”