For project success, we need to deliver on leadership's vision. And since the Executive Sponsor has the final say, the Dev Team’s work needs to embrace that vision and demonstrate regular technical progress towards it.
To ensure everybody is aligned, the often overlooked crucial first step is creation of an Executive Charter. Developed collaboratively by the Dev Team and stakeholders, the Executive Charter document clarifies ambiguities, defines deliverables, and establishes measurable business goals.
Also, the Executive Charter provides a common language for the entire project. "Technical Value" narratives can be extracted from a well-crafted Executive Charter. The Dev Team can easily remember and share these narratives when describing how their technical tasks accomplish solution objectives. Framing project updates using the business terms grounded in the Executive Charter will clearly connect the technical work being discussed to the value it delivers.
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Project updates that matter = reporting on technical tasks rooted in Business Value
"Transparency" is also key to successful technical updates. Converting technical uncertainties into measurable evaluations means "no surprises." Managing project risk using lean experimentation, converts technical uncertainties into quantitative evaluations. And by sharing the results frequently in feature demonstrations, this showcases solution evolution.
Ultimately the goal of updates is to drive proactive conversations with stakeholder. Transparency leads to alternative solutions when needed, posing questions like: "we learned that X isn't possible, but we can achieve a similar outcome with Y. Would that be acceptable?" So impediments discovered early on can be mitigated before issues escalate.
A well-defined Executive Charter, coupled with simple "Technical Value" narratives and transparent risk management, provides successful technical project updates.
By focusing on business outcomes and linking them to the underlying technical project aspects, teams ensure everyone understands how technical decisions drive project success.
