Question

A project manager is leading a hybrid initiative with three parallel workstreams, each led by a different lead who has developed a subsidiary plan (scope, schedule, resources) somewhat independently. As the PM begins integrating these into a single project management plan, they notice the workstream plans use different assumptions about a shared testing environment and different milestone naming conventions. What should the PM do FIRST to integrate the planning activities effectively?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a joint planning session with the workstream leads to surface conflicting assumptions and dependencies and align them before consolidating the plans

Answer

Approve each subsidiary plan as-is to preserve the leads' autonomy and reconcile discrepancies only if they cause an issue later

Answer

Escalate the inconsistencies to the sponsor and request a decision on which workstream's assumptions should govern

Answer

Ask each lead to independently revise their plan to match the assumptions in the largest workstream's plan