Project Context
Fabrikam Cloud has grown through acquisitions, and its 6 engineering teams now use different delivery methods: two teams run Scrum, three use Kanban, and one operates with ad hoc ticketing. The CTO has asked you to lead a 12-week program to standardize how engineering work is planned, prioritized, and tracked before the next fiscal planning cycle.
The program covers 48 engineers, 6 engineering managers, 4 product managers, and shared QA and platform teams. Leadership wants a lightweight operating model that improves predictability without slowing feature delivery. The effort is urgent because the company missed two launch dates last quarter and customer escalations are increasing.
Key Stakeholders
The CTO wants a consistent methodology and better delivery forecasts. Engineering managers want flexibility for infrastructure and interrupt-driven work. Product wants clearer roadmaps and launch commitments. Finance wants quarterly planning inputs by the end of Week 10. These priorities are not fully aligned.
Constraints
- Timeline: 12 weeks, with pilot adoption by Week 8 and full rollout by Week 12
- Budget: $90,000 for tooling changes, training, and external coaching
- Team capacity: No new headcount; each team can spend at most 15% of sprint/cycle capacity on process change
- Dependencies: Jira workflow redesign, reporting dashboard updates, and manager training must be completed before rollout
- Current state: 3 active customer commitments cannot slip during the transition
Complications
- The Platform team handles production incidents and argues Scrum ceremonies will reduce responsiveness.
- One senior engineering manager is openly resistant and wants to keep their current process.
- Jira admin support is only available 8 hours per week for the first month.
Deliverables
- Propose the project execution plan, including how you would decide which methodology or hybrid model to adopt.
- Define milestones, owners, dependencies, and a rollout sequence across the 6 teams.
- Identify the key trade-offs between standardization and team flexibility, and how you would handle stakeholder pushback.
- Create a risk mitigation plan for adoption, delivery disruption, and tooling delays.
- Define launch and post-rollout success criteria for the first 30 days.
