Learn to answer the “Scenario Based Interview Questions On Scope Management” with three different approaches and leave an impression on your interviewer
Post UAT testing customer shares a few ‘Change Requests‘ as observations/defects. The project is already struggling due to scope creep and reduced margins. In addition, it’s a fixed-price project. As a Project/Program Manager, how do you deal with such cases?
The very first element of your answer should reflect is Analysis.
I will analyze the observations raised during the UAT testing and with the functional, technical and QA teams. Then, we will dig deeper to categorize them. Categorization buckets can be
We will further categorize Change Requests into –
There is no hiding from the defects which are raised, and they need to be prioritized based on severity and fixed. For the change requests, I have three approaches to handle this situation.
- In the first approach, I’ll be Stuck on what has been signed in the scope. If the observations are defects, I shall consider them accordingly. If these are new changes, I shall call it out as a change request and ask the customer to follow the agreed change management process. I will also require internal stakeholders’ support in case of any escalations.
- The second approach shall depend on my relationship with the customer. If it is good, I will find ways to accommodate the same and leverage this favor in some other way later. Different methods like a workaround or negotiating on providing basic functionality now and building full features in the upcoming release. Then, ask the team to stretch for the completion. I will keep my manager updated on the strategic part.
- The third approach is- If the customer is a large account or strategically significant to the company, we only have one option: to accommodate these changes. But then I shall ask the customer what is more important, the go-live date or having all these changes. Can some of the features be shifted to another release? Will providing a basic version of the changes work for them? Tip: – For such customers, make sure you take the approval/sign-off on a $0 CR or, if not possible, get the acknowledgment of the efforts involved for the additional changes asked.
Assignment For You: Scenario 2: You are the Program Manager of a Project running on a Scrum framework. Each sprint is for two weeks, followed by a review with the customer. The product owner pushed a few changes during one sprint, citing critical business reasons. How do you approach this scenario?
