# Case: the sponsor changes priorities every week > Leo wants a mobile preview one week and group classes the next. Find what is behind it, show each change's cost in days and money, and ask him to decide in writing. - Course: [Project Management Without the Bureaucracy: Run One Project from Brief to Closure](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy.md) - Module: People and stakeholders - Lesson 20/32, ~29 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/sponsor-changes-priorities-case ## Two weeks, two new priorities **Alex Tutor:** Monday, 28 December. Two weeks ago Leo asked Danylo for a mobile preview: a phone app screen where families try three physics problems. Last week he asked Vira for group classes. Both are on the out list of the brief he signed. **Leo:** I'm not changing the project, I'm improving it. Families live on their phones, and groups are cheaper for them. Both help us reach 120. **Danylo:** My rough estimate for the preview: 8 to 12 working days of my team, plus about 60,000 UAH for a contractor. My team also owns the dry run and booking, both on the chain. **Vira:** Groups need their own pacing and their own demo standard. That is 10 to 15 days of my time in January, exactly when I'm onboarding tutors. **Alex Tutor:** Before answering, find what is behind the requests. Two different ideas in two weeks usually point to one worry. > **Exercise:** In two weeks Leo, the sponsor, has asked for a mobile preview ("families live on their phones") and then for group classes ("groups are cheaper for them"), saying both help reach 120, the learner target in the brief he signed. What is most likely behind his two requests? ## Who decides what **Sofia:** He's the sponsor. Can I even say no? **Alex Tutor:** You don't say no; you show the price. Adding to the scope is his call, and the brief says he decides changes in writing within two working days. Your job is to put the cost in front of him. **Hanna:** And the money side: 60,000 for the preview isn't in any line. The contingency reserve is for named risks, not new features. **Danylo:** One more thing: he messaged me directly about the preview. I've already spent two days on mock-ups. > **Exercise:** Match each question about the new requests to who answers it. ## Work that started without a decision **Alex Tutor:** Danylo's two days came from somewhere. Count them. > **Exercise:** After last week's status, 8 of the 11 buffer days were left. Danylo then spent two days on preview mock-ups that nobody had approved. How many buffer days are left now? **Alex Tutor:** Danylo's two days came out of the buffer: 8 of the 11 days were left after last week's status, now 6. Nobody decided that; it just happened. **Sofia:** So I tell Danylo to pause, and I don't blame him. He did what the CEO asked. **Alex Tutor:** Yes. And ask Leo for one channel: new requests come to you, in writing, so their cost is shown before anyone starts. **Vira:** I haven't started on groups. I wanted to ask first. > **Exercise:** Danylo has spent two days on the preview because Leo asked him directly. What is the best response? **Alex Tutor:** Now put the preview's price together. > **Exercise:** Which facts belong in the price of the mobile preview that you show Leo? Choose all that apply. ## Steady is not stubborn **Leo:** So everything I suggest is a "change request" now? That sounds like bureaucracy. **Alex Tutor:** One short message per idea, not a committee. You get the cost and the options, you decide in two days, and the team stops guessing which priority is current. **Sofia:** And some ideas can simply wait. A group format could be its own small project after opening. **Alex Tutor:** Right: "not now" with a date is a real answer. Keep a short list of later ideas and review it at the results check on 1 March. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** keeping the project steady means turning down the sponsor's new ideas. **Alex Tutor:** And what about the groups? > **Exercise:** Group classes would take 10 to 15 days of Vira's time in January, when she onboards tutors. Which answer is a real one? **Alex Tutor:** Last: Leo calls it bureaucracy. What do you answer? > **Exercise:** Leo: "So everything I suggest is a change request now? That sounds like bureaucracy." What is the best reply? ## Your turn: the message to Leo **Hanna:** Copy me if anything touches the 600,000. **Vira:** And if groups come later, say so plainly, so families aren't promised them now. **Alex Tutor:** One message: the worry you think is behind the requests, each change with its cost in days and money, the options, a proposed channel for new ideas, and a written decision by a date. **Sofia:** Respectful, short, and with his goal first. > **Exercise:** Write Leo a message that keeps the project steady: the trade-off, the cost in days and money, and a written decision. > **Key points** > > - Weekly new priorities usually hide one worry: find it and answer it first. > - The sponsor decides scope changes; owners estimate; the expert judges quality; the lead puts the cost of each option on one page. > - Show the price in days (against the buffer) and money (against the ceiling and the reserves), then ask for a written decision by a date. > - Work started without a decision is paused without blame, and its cost is recorded. > - "Not now" with a review date is a real answer; one channel for new ideas stops the team guessing. **Alex Tutor:** The project now has roles, a map and a written rhythm. Next module: risk and quality, starting with a register that has 40 items and none of the real risks. - Previous lesson: [The weekly written status and async habits](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/the-weekly-written-status.md) - Next lesson: [Risk, issue, assumption or dependency?](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/what-is-a-risk.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.