How to Deal with Mid-Project Change Requests? Practical Techniques for PMs to Avoid Being Swung Around by "Late-Game Moves" #PMStruggleLog6

Introduction: The "Late-Game Move" Lurking in Projects

Hello, I am an HAS engineer.

“Another additional request from the client...”
“I’m caught between sales and development, and I don’t know what to do...”

Have you ever experienced the frustration of sudden additional requests while managing a project? I am currently facing that exact situation in an ongoing project.

And every time it happens, I realize the terror of“scope creep,” where the scope of work gradually expands.

1. 🧨 The Moment the Scope Collapses: The Terror of Additional Requests

Scope creepis a phenomenon where the scope of work expands while a project is underway.
Requests for additional features not originally planned may arise, requiring design changes or the procurement of additional parts.

However, my company is not an IT firm, but focuses primarily onhardware-centric product development. Therefore, we cannot flexibly add features through agile development like software teams can.

Most of our projects adopt a waterfall model, where the product development process proceeds sequentially.

If you try to add even one feature,

• design changes

• procurement of additional parts

• and re-evaluation (including confirming the impact on existing features)
  occur in a chain reaction.

In other words, the reality of hardware development is that itcannot be settled with a "just a little extra" request.

2. ⚔️ The Three-Way Standoff: Sales vs. Development vs. PM

This "additional request" often develops into a common scenario.

• Salesis positive, saying, "This is a chance to gain the client's trust!"

• Developmentopposes it, saying, "It's difficult with current technology. Costs and lead times will skyrocket."

• Andthe one caught in the middle is the PM.

Furthermore, regarding this structure, physical distance—with sales overseas (Europe) and development in Japan—can be a factor that widens the gap.

Here, the PM is not just a schedule manager, but is forced to make decisions as the“final person responsible”for ensuring the business succeeds.

3. 🔁 Decoding "Team Confusion" with the Tuckman Model

Team building is originally conducted according to the following Tuckman model.

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming

4. Performing

5. Adjourning

There are cases where you revert to the Storming phase due to such additional requests, even when you are in the best state where specifications are solidified in the Norming phase and you are moving toward completion in the Performing phase.

PMs are required to minimize such states of regression.

4. Three steps a PM should take ①: Inventory of requirements and assessing the "level of seriousness"

What you want to avoid most in such situations is a "groundless argument" turning into a dogfight.

First, what is necessary is to organize the requirements and clarify their priority.

• Must

• Should

• Nice to have

After classifying them into these, dig deeper into whether that requirement is truly directly linked to the business.

What is important here is "how serious the customer is".

• Is it at a level where they would move to a competitor if this requirement is not realized?

• Or is it just at the level of "it would be convenient if we had it"?

• How much business does the customer expect from our company?

From a sales perspective, there is always a desire to increase the importance because of the wish to "value the customer".

However, when you correctly evaluate additional requirements, you often find that many of them are not directly linked to the business.

Conversely, if there are items with a strong business impact, there is also the point of reflection regarding why they weren't raised beforehand.
Such content should be correctly fed back for future project improvements.

5. Three Steps for a PM to Take ②: Visualizing the Scope of Impact (Cost/Schedule)

Once you have grasped the true intent of the request, the next step is to specifically identify the impact that request will have on the project.

• Is a reallocation of development resources necessary?

• How much will the schedule be delayed?

• How much time is required for the procurement and evaluation of new materials?

By documenting these impacts, it becomes possible to have fact-based discussions rather than emotional ones.

The sales team might also move toward the direction that 'if it costs that much and takes that much time, it won't be in the customer's best interest'.

Using WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) updates and impact analysis documents makes it easier to gain stakeholder understanding.

Please see here for details on WBS content and common case studies.

6. Three Steps for a PM to Take ③: Conflict Management

Discussions surrounding the pros and cons of additional requests often create conflict between departments.
However, I do not think that conflict is a bad thing.

Rather, I view it as 'evidence that the project is progressing healthily because opinions from different perspectives are emerging'.

What is important is not to leave that conflict unaddressed, but to bring it to a consensus early on.
To achieve this, it is necessary to thoroughly carry out the two steps mentioned above: inventorying requirements and visualizing the scope of impact.

Five Approaches to Conflict Resolution

• Collaboration Resolve everyone's concerns and aim for a win-win (ideal form)

• Compromise Both sides make concessions and find a middle ground

• AccommodationTemporarily accepting the other party's claim

• CompetitionPrioritizing one party's opinion (effective in emergencies)

• AvoidanceTemporarily postponing the discussion (strategic withdrawal)

The ideal is collaboration, butin reality, compromise is the most common approach.
Even with compromise, clarifying the background and reasons for that decision significantly changes how stakeholders feel about the outcome.

And finally, after the conflict has subsided, be sure toconduct a retrospective on 'why this conflict occurred', and apply those lessons to the next project.

Summary: Scope creep is where a PM can really show their skills

Thank you for reading this far.

[Summary of this article]
✅ Assess the 'seriousness' of the request and prevent abstract arguments
✅ Clarify the impact on cost and schedule
✅ Conflict is not bad. View it as an opportunity for consensus building

Even if it looks like a 'late-game change,' I believe there is a winning path that only a PM can take.
I want to view this positively as 'a chance to show my coordination skills' and overcome it.