Can the new language fit the same release?
A customer asks for another interface language. The sponsor wants the date and budget held.
The question
Alder Works is fictional. Remaining work is sequential on one delivery team. Each activity has one assigned person working full time. The baseline has 15 working days and $20,000 of remaining cost. The estimates are incremental elapsed working days at the stated daily rates; no overlap or contingency is assumed.
| Days | Cost per day ($) | |
|---|---|---|
| Development | 8 | 800 |
| Quality assurance | 2 | 600 |
These ten days are additional work before acceptance. The baseline already includes the original scope.
The sponsor approves any change to scope, cost or the release date. The customer can describe the need but cannot approve Alder’s baseline change.
“Choose your next action and explain the evidence behind it.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: What do you confirm first?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Clarify the need
The strong move. The customer’s request is input to a change decision.
Tell the customer yes, then ask the team to absorb it.
Tempting, but it misses something. That creates an unapproved commitment.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Clarify the required language, acceptance checks and business deadline before committing.”
Why it works: The customer’s request is input to a change decision.
Step 2: What does the addition cost?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Price the full addition
The strong move. Count development and QA at their own rates.
Quote only $6,400 and retain day 15.
Tempting, but it misses something. That omits QA and all schedule impact.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The change adds 10 days and $7,600. The plan becomes 25 days and $27,600 without a trade.”
Why it works: Count development and QA at their own rates.
Step 3: Does the proposed swap fit?
The team can remove an optional report from the baseline: 4 development days at $800 and 1 QA day at $600. No other work can overlap or be removed.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Calculate the net trade
The strong move. A partial offset does not satisfy unchanged constraints.
Say the swap fits because some scope was removed.
Tempting, but it misses something. The remaining gap is still 5 days and $3,800.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Removing the optional report saves 5 days and $3,800. The revised plan is 20 days and $23,800, still above both limits.”
Why it works: A partial offset does not satisfy unchanged constraints.
Step 4: Which option do you recommend?
The customer confirms that English is sufficient for the initial launch. The extra language is needed six weeks later. The sponsor has not yet approved any change.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Propose a separate change
The strong move. The newly confirmed need allows a staged option that protects the original baseline.
Silently add the language after approval and call it a small enhancement.
Tempting, but it misses something. It still needs scope, budget and acceptance ownership.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Recommend the original release and a separately estimated language follow-up; seek sponsor approval and record the customer’s need.”
Why it works: The newly confirmed need allows a staged option that protects the original baseline.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Present the original release plus a separate language change for approval.
- Because
- The same-release options exceed the current constraints; the customer can use the original release.
- What would change it
- An earlier language deadline or approved extra cost and time.
Common traps
- A scope swap may be too small.
- The requester is not automatically the change approver.
Check your answer
- I included QA.
- I priced the net scope trade.
- I checked the actual need date.
- I named the change approver.
Last reviewed Nov 10, 2026