Recommitment Meeting

If the schedule can't be met with simple adjustments to the work queue and staffing, then assemble developers and interested managers to recommit to a new strategy based on doing the minimal amount of work to reach a satisfactory conclusion.undefined

To be applied before

 * continued Build Prototypes leads to a Recommitment Meeting.
 * failure of Completion Headroom or Size The Schedule leads to a Recommitment Meeting.
 * Implied Requirements, Work Queue and Work Split are inputs for Recommitment Meeting.

Alternatives

 * see also Take No Small Slips.

Contents of following sections belong to the original Organizational Patterns website and have been divided into following parts: Context, Problem, Solution, Discussion.

Context
... each development group is managing its schedule using Work Split, but additional scheduling problems seem to keep coming up.

Problem
If a product initiative is in jeopardy because Implied Requirements cannot be met through schedule and Work Queue adjustments, then it is unlikely any other development initiated activity will help. Management up to at least the level that began the initiative will suddenly take interest in all circumstances leading up to the current situation. Some of this is natural and appropriate. But it won’t be a time of high productivity and shouldn’t be allowed to continue too long.

Solution
'''Assemble a meeting of interested management and key development people. Allow the meeting to review history until all present agree simple adjustments (like working weekends, or adding staff) won’t help. Eventually a solution appears, usually expressed as a question of the form: What is the least amount of work required to do X?''' X is one person’s idea of the most important part of the initiative. The question should be answered quickly and confidently by consulting a recent Work Queue Report [Cunningham1996].

The process may repeat for plans Y and Z. Ultimately a plan will be selected. Then the remainder of the meeting is devoted to talking through implications of the decision and getting all parties commitment to the new plan and/or schedule.

Discussion
This, of course, is another form of episode. The decisions are ones of allocating business resources and belong in upper management. However, all present can contribute, and should do so in a frank, honest, non-defensive and constructive way. See also Take No Small Slips.

A version of this pattern first appeared in [Cunningham1996].