The project name means different things to different people. How do we align it?
Ambiguous initiative definitionWrite a shared problem statement and a plain-language description of the result. Use examples of included and excluded work to reveal conflicting assumptions early.
What to do now
- Ask stakeholders to describe the outcome independently
- Compare the differences
- Agree explicit inclusions and exclusions
- Publish the agreed definition with the charter
When to escalate
Escalate when
Different sponsors are approving materially different interpretations.
Who decides
The accountable sponsor
Example
Digital transformation is narrowed to replacing three approval processes rather than every institutional system.
Mistake to avoid
Believing a common project title implies common understanding.
Prevent a repeat
At each stage decision, check that the expected outcome, owner and justification remain valid.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Documents
- Approvals
Keep the decision brief with the project and request a recorded sponsor decision before the next commitment. See the platform
Related cases
- Our project has several goals but no agreed measure of success. How do I fix that?Unmeasurable objectives
- The proposed project duplicates work already underway. What should we do?Duplicate initiative intake
- The team has different standards for done. How do we align them?Inconsistent completion expectations
- The same data means different things in connected systems. How do we resolve it?Semantic data mismatch