A project to develop a digital performance management tool for the company is ongoing. The vision of the project is to help employees and managers simplify the work process and increase efficiency. After the first iteration, it becomes evident that most employees who should work with the tool do not have the basic skills to do so. What should project manager do?

In project management, ensuring that deliverables achieve their intended business value is paramount. When end-users lack the skills to adopt a new tool, the project's benefits realization is severely at risk. The project manager must proactively address this by assessing the specific training requirements necessary for successful adoption. Because this capability gap emerged after the first iteration, it represents a newly discovered requirement. The project manager should define these specific training needs and formally modify the project scope (or add the requirements to the product backlog in an agile/iterative context) to include user training. This ensures the project delivers a complete, usable solution that aligns with PMI's focus on value delivery and comprehensive transition planning.

A: Delegating this entirely to HR abdicates the project manager's responsibility to ensure the project's deliverables are successfully adopted and capable of delivering the intended business value. B: Hiring a technical consultant is a premature procurement decision that skips the essential first step of defining the actual training needs and formally updating the project scope. C: Developing a manual assumes a specific solution without assessing the actual needs; furthermore, a written manual alone rarely resolves a fundamental lack of basic technical skills.

1. Project Management Institute. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition. Section 2.1 (Value Delivery) and Section 2.5 (Planning Performance Domain), pp. 17-18, 61-62. (Supports the necessity of adjusting project plans and scope to ensure the project delivers actual business value and usability).

2. Project Management Institute. (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition. Section 5.3 (Define Scope) and Section 4.6 (Perform Integrated Change Control), pp. 150-154, 113-115. (Details the process of updating project scope when new requirements are identified to ensure project success).

3. Project Management Institute. (2017). The PMI Guide to Business Analysis. Section 4.5.2 (Transition Requirements), p. 74. (Specifies that organizational readiness and training needs must be formally defined as transition requirements to move users successfully from the current state to the future state).