The same dependency appears in many project plans. Who should own it?
Shared dependency governanceCoordinate the dependency at a level with visibility across the affected projects. Keep local impacts visible while managing one authoritative readiness and decision record.
What to do now
- Identify all dependent initiatives
- Name the shared dependency owner
- Agree one readiness definition and forecast
- Review cross-project consequences together
When to escalate
Escalate when
A shared delay creates a conflict beyond one project's authority.
Who decides
The portfolio decision authority
Example
Several projects reference one identity-service readiness milestone instead of maintaining conflicting estimates.
Mistake to avoid
Letting each project report a different date for the same dependency.
Prevent a repeat
Review whether active commitments fit available capacity and current priorities rather than just tracking project counts.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Resources
- Documents
- Approvals
Use project and capacity records to support portfolio decisions, then record approved priorities and consequences explicitly. See the platform
Related cases
- Two projects claim the same resource savings. Who reconciles the portfolio?Portfolio benefit overlap
- We have more approved projects than people to deliver them. What should leadership do?Portfolio overload
- A shared specialist is needed by two projects on the same day. Who decides?Contested scarce capacity
- Nobody wants to own a risk outside their department. Who should take it?Cross-boundary risk ownership