Communicating Feedback on Unused Features
When a promised feature is built and delivered but goes unused, it’s crucial to handle the situation transparently and constructively. This article discusses the best approach to communicate such feedback to an executive sponsor.
Exam Question
Your executive sponsor visits the executives of an important customer. During the visit, they communicate to her what they believe is an important feature for your next product release, and your sponsor promises it will be in the release. Your team builds and delivers the feature as promised. Over the next three months, your measures of the usage of the feature show that it has not been used. When you ask users from this important customer “why?”, they indicate that they did not need the feature and their executives do not really understand the needs of their users.
How do you communicate this to your executive sponsor?
(choose the best answer)
A. You do not; the work has been done and it might make the sponsor look bad.
B. You indicate that the feature has not been used yet, but might be used in the future.
C. You share what you learned from the release with the sponsor to help them learn.
D. You look for other customers who need this feature so that the work is not wasted.
Correct Answer
C. You share what you learned from the release with the sponsor to help them learn.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C. You share what you learned from the release with the sponsor to help them learn:
Sharing the feedback and lessons learned from the release is the most constructive approach. It provides an opportunity for the executive sponsor to understand the actual needs of the users versus the perceived needs communicated by their executives. This feedback loop helps in making more informed decisions in the future and prevents similar issues from arising.
Why the Other Options Are Less Effective
A. You do not; the work has been done and it might make the sponsor look bad:
Avoiding the conversation may prevent temporary discomfort but does not contribute to learning or improvement. Transparency is key to building trust and driving continuous improvement.
B. You indicate that the feature has not been used yet, but might be used in the future:
This response is non-committal and does not address the root cause of the issue. It postpones the problem rather than solving it.
D. You look for other customers who need this feature so that the work is not wasted:
While finding other customers might be a secondary action, it does not address the communication gap and the misunderstanding that led to the feature being developed in the first place.
Benefits of Sharing Learnings
- Improved Decision-Making: Provides the sponsor with real data to make more informed decisions.
- Stronger Relationships: Builds trust through transparency and open communication.
- Continuous Improvement: Helps prevent similar issues in the future by learning from past experiences.
- Better Alignment: Ensures that future features are more closely aligned with actual user needs.
EBM Framework Insights
Current Value (CV): Understanding why a feature was unused helps improve the current value delivered to customers.
Unrealized Value (UV): Identifying gaps between what is built and what is needed can reveal opportunities for future value.
Ability to Innovate (A2I): Learning from feedback fosters innovation by aligning product development with customer needs.
Time to Market (T2M): Reducing wasted efforts on unnecessary features can improve time to market for more valuable features.
Relevance to the PAL-EBM Exam
Communicating effectively with sponsors and stakeholders about the outcomes of product features is essential for the PAL-EBM exam. This skill demonstrates the ability to apply empirical principles and the EBM framework to drive continuous improvement and value delivery.
Key Takeaways
- Sharing learnings from the release helps sponsors understand user needs better.
- Transparency and open communication build trust and improve decision-making.
- Aligning development efforts with actual user needs prevents wasted work and increases value delivery.
- Learning from feedback is crucial for continuous improvement and innovation.
Conclusion
When a promised feature goes unused, the best approach is to share the learnings from the release with the executive sponsor. This transparency helps improve decision-making, build trust, and ensure future product features better align with actual user needs. For more information on preparing for the PAL-EBM exam, visit our Professional Agile Leadership PAL-EBM™ Exam Prep.
