3. Unplanned Demands

In product management, unplanned demands are a common occurrence. They often emerge in the day-to-day, requiring immediate attention or changes in focus. Understanding how to manage these demands effectively is crucial for maintaining product and project momentum. This document outlines the two types of unplanned demands, how to address them, and tips on maintaining stakeholder alignment and decision-making based on data.

Types of Unplanned Demands

There are generally two types of unplanned demands you’ll encounter as a product manager:

1. Problem-Driven Requests

This is the more ideal scenario, where a colleague or team member comes to you saying, “We need to solve this problem.” Typically, this type of request comes from areas like sales or customer support, where they’ve identified a recurring issue.

In this case, your role is to investigate:

• Is the problem truly urgent? Sometimes, the issue might seem urgent because of a few back-to-back incidents, but further investigation may reveal that it’s not as pressing as initially thought.
• What’s the real impact? Assess how widespread the problem is and whether it justifies pausing current priorities.
• Does it align with ongoing work? Use prioritization techniques to determine if solving this problem now is more valuable than continuing current tasks.

In this scenario, it’s important to involve the product trio—design, technical leadership, and product management—to get a multidisciplinary perspective on the problem and assess its priority.

2. Feature-Driven Interruptions

The second type of unplanned demand occurs when someone comes in saying, “We need to stop everything and build this feature immediately!” This can feel disruptive, especially when it lacks proper context or justification.

In this case:

• Stay patient and empathetic. The person making the request may not have a product mindset or understand prioritization; they’re simply trying to help from their perspective.

• Reverse engineer the feature request. Instead of jumping into the specifics of the feature, ask questions like:

  • What problem is this feature solving?
  • What impact would this have on the user?
  • How does this feature position us against competitors or within the market?
  • What opportunity are we missing by not having this feature?

  By doing this, you reframe the conversation to focus on the problem that needs to be addressed, rather than immediately discussing the solution.

• Reassess urgency. Once you’ve uncovered the problem behind the request, evaluate its urgency and impact using prioritization frameworks, again involving the product trio to ensure you’re looking at the problem holistically.

Managing Interruptions and Misalignment

While unplanned demands are inevitable, there are steps you can take to minimize the frequency of these interruptions:

1. Communicate and align early. If you’re constantly being interrupted with urgent requests or feature ideas, it may be a sign that you haven’t effectively communicated the current priorities or strategy. Ensure that stakeholders understand what you’re working on and why it’s the most important focus right now.

2. Focus on the “Why.” You don’t need to have all the answers about why you’re not doing something (e.g., “Why aren’t we building this feature?”), but you should always be able to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing. Share the data, user feedback, market opportunities, and other insights that justify your current focus.

3. Use evidence to support your decisions. When you provide clear evidence for why certain tasks are prioritized, it becomes easier to avoid distractions. This evidence can include customer interviews, data on market potential, or results from usability tests.

The Cost of Change

Unplanned demands become more costly to address as a project progresses. As the diagram illustrates, making changes early in the requirements phase is less expensive than making changes right before launch or during large-scale testing.

To minimize these costs:

• Plan shorter delivery cycles. Instead of long two-month releases, consider delivering smaller, more granular updates. This allows you to incorporate unplanned changes without derailing the project or causing costly late-stage revisions.

Handling Feature Requests

When someone requests a new feature, it’s important to follow a structured process to evaluate its importance. Here’s a suggested approach:

1. Investigate the importance. Understand why the feature matters to the person proposing it. What do they hope to achieve?

2. Ask targeted questions. Help the stakeholder clarify their request by asking:

   • Can you explain how the user would interact with this feature?
   • How would the user access it, and where would it be located in the product?
   • What percentage of users would use this feature?
   • What problem does this feature solve for the user, and how would it improve their experience?

3. Gather data. After gathering more information, commit to investigating the request further. Instead of dismissing or accepting the request outright, take the time to analyze its value before providing feedback.

4. Communicate clearly. Once you have more data, be transparent about your decision. If the feature won’t be built, explain why. If it will be developed, explain when and how it fits into the overall roadmap.

Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders

Some stakeholders may be particularly challenging to deal with, ignoring data or refusing to acknowledge the reasoning behind your decisions. In these cases:

• Patience is key. It’s important to stay calm and avoid letting difficult stakeholders negatively impact your mental or physical well-being.
• Present data and strategy. The more evidence-based your decision-making, the harder it is for stakeholders to contest your position. However, some people may still ignore the data.
• Know when to escalate. If the situation becomes too heated or unmanageable, sometimes the best solution is to pause the conversation and revisit it later. If necessary, you may need to either accept the demand or refuse it, depending on the level of autonomy and the stakeholder’s power.

Final Reflections

Managing unplanned demands is a key part of product management. Here are some takeaways:

• Map and understand your stakeholders. Know who they are and what they expect. Involve them early to secure buy-in.
• Overcommunicate when necessary. Ensure everyone understands your current priorities and why they’re important. This reduces the likelihood of unplanned demands.
• Evaluate unplanned demands thoroughly. Always investigate before acting. Use data, prioritization frameworks, and involve the right team members to make informed decisions.
• Keep your mental health in check. Difficult stakeholders can drain your energy. Protect your well-being and don’t be afraid to set boundaries if necessary.

Unplanned demands will always be part of product management, but with a structured approach, patience, and clear communication, you can handle them effectively and keep your projects on track.