Let’s continue the conversation from yesterday about navigating delays in a Salesforce project.
The question was, when a project is built, tested, and approved and is just waiting to be scheduled, should you allow changes if the scheduled date is in the short-to-medium future?
The short answer is, “no”.
Adding functionality at this moment would most likely introduce complexities. Not only would the configuration and/or development need to be done, the following would also be needed:
- unit testing
- user testing
- updating the documentation
- retraining end users
- updating the support model
- project management
While there may be push-back from the client, holding your ground is in their best interest. It’s better to deploy a working project at a later date than allow new challenges to appear without sufficient time to resolve them.
Note: If the deployment is significantly delayed, then changes may make sense. This would be like releasing the MVP and update # 1 simultaneously. Keep in mind that even in this scenario, the answer still isn’t completely straightforward. There are additional factors to consider, such as lacking user feedback of the MVP which would reprioritize future developments.
The takeaway
When the client wants to add features after announcing a deployment delay, firmly hold your ground and provide feedback as to why this is a bad idea. Their reasons should be overwhelming for you to change your mind.