About Challenges

When I posted last week about taking on fractional delivery leadership roles, I received many responses: congratulatory and good wishes ones (always nice to receive, and really appreciated), as well as “oh, here is a challenge that you could help with…” messages.

So let’s talk about challenges.

There are plenty of challenges impacting software delivery, there are the planning and control challenges. KPIs vs OKRs, and whether we do or we don’t have the data required to drive smart decisions. Change management challenges. And scope management challenges. And capacity planning that everyone asks about, yet in this kind of business almost impossible to nail down correctly. And… and… and…

There are also some challenges that get less time in the spotlight, but have a significant impact of their own. Some examples –

• What is the real value, for the client, of the solution that we sold them, and how can it be realised.
• Do we have a product that is fit for purpose, and if not, do we have the know-how of how to deliver a standard solution based on what we have.
• Is the client committed, and ready, and understands their part of the equation.
• Do our teams have the right level of knowledge – being that of the solution, the product, or of the business domain, and how deep should their business knowledge be.

Do any of these resonate?

A first step towards a solution is asking the right, and often difficult, questions.