STEP 1: PREPARING FOR CO-CREATION
How will project management approaches and tools be adapted to accommodate co-creation?
To meaningfully embed processes of co-creation into a project lifecycle, typical project management functions such as planning, budgeting, risk management, etc. must be adapted to support this objective. The project management ‘iron triangle’ of time, cost and quality (often referred to as the ‘triple constraint’) posits that only two of these three core dimensions can be achieved, to the detriment of the third. For instance, to deliver a project quickly and cheaply, the quality will no doubt be compromised.
Those managing an AI/ML project must be prepared to reassess and adapt how these three dimensions are typically prioritised - focussing on investing more time and resource into developing a high quality output, as well as scrutinising how quality itself is defined and indeed who defines it.
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Consider the governance structure of the project and clearly building in formal roles and mechanisms through which a diversity of stakeholders will be able to feed in and influence the progress of the project. Use the stakeholder mapping process to determine whether the proposed decision-makers on the project are bringing diverse perspectives and skills that span both technical and contextual understanding.
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Consider that additional time and resource inputs will be required in order to accommodate in-depth and ongoing engagement and relationship-building with a wide range of stakeholders.
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While all project managers will be familiar with mapping, monitoring and mitigating risks throughout a project lifecycle, applying a lens of co-creation to this activity may include:
a) Reconsidering who is engaged in the process of identifying risks - this should not be limited to those managing the project
b) Identifying where co-creation will act as part of a risk mitigation strategy. For example, in-depth engagement of particular stakeholders could substantially help to mitigate risk of low user-uptake of the solution, or in securing authorisation from relevant authorities.