Another team says our dependency is not their priority. What should we do?
Unagreed external dependencyConfirm the required outcome, date, and consequence, then obtain a shared priority decision. A dependency in your plan is not a commitment from the supplying team.
What to do now
- Describe the exact dependency
- Confirm the supplier team's current commitments
- Explore alternatives or resequencing
- Escalate the priority conflict with evidence
When to escalate
Escalate when
The dependency threatens a critical outcome and cannot be agreed locally.
Who decides
The accountable integration or dependency owner
Example
A platform team and project sponsor agree a realistic access milestone through the portfolio authority.
Mistake to avoid
Assuming another team accepted a date because it appears in your schedule.
Prevent a repeat
Verify dependency completion with the consuming team and test the integrated outcome early enough to act.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Tasks
- Documents
- Projects
Keep dependency owners, required evidence and dates with linked work records, confirming supported link behavior in the current build. See the platform
Related cases
- Our project depends on an external approval date we cannot control. What should we do?External decision uncertainty
- Our dependency dates keep changing. How do we protect the project?Volatile external readiness
- A small project blocks a major program. How should priority change?Dependency-based portfolio priority
- Our expected benefit depends on another department changing its process. What should we do?Unowned benefit dependency