We first tackled Cost of Delay on our blog last September. This factor enables you to calculate how much delaying a product’s market entry costs per month, making it particularly important for the prioritisation of ongoing projects.
However, a key obstacle to swift product development is the fact that the most important decisions can frequently only be made by one person due to hierarchical project structures. While an entire team may be working on a project, they will eventually reach a point where they cannot advance without the input of a decision-maker. In many companies, this person is only sporadically available and so development has to be put on hold until a decision-maker is available to give the green light.
The Economic Decision Model
In these situations, the Economic Decision Model can be very useful in accelerating product development, as it helps to find answers to the following questions within the team:
- Is it worth adding a feature to the product if this means delaying the launch?
- If development lacks resources, should external staff be taken on for a short period of time to reduce further delays?
- Is it worth redesigning the product to reduce production costs if this will delay market entry?
- Is it worth prioritising one project over another, or should both be worked on at the same time?
To accelerate product development, it is therefore essential to rethink company structures and develop new methods that support decentralised decision-making. After all, the more decisions a team can make itself, the more effectively it can advance a project.
