Dependency and Impediment Management Foundations

Dependency and Impediment Management Foundations is the set of concepts describing two related but distinct kinds of obstacles a team encounters during execution: dependencies, where a piece of work relies on something outside the team's immediate control, and impediments, where something is actively preventing progress from happening at all. Where daily work coordination surfaces blockers as they arise day to day, this foundation provides the fuller vocabulary for understanding, tracking, and resolving those obstacles once they have been identified, whether they involve another team, an external party, or a more general obstruction to progress.

This foundation separates dependencies by their origin, distinguishing those arising from within the team's own organization from those originating outside it entirely, and separates impediments by their severity, distinguishing a general obstacle from one severe enough to fully halt progress on affected work. It closes with the practices used to assign ownership, coordinate around dependencies, and escalate and resolve impediments that a team cannot address on its own.

Defining Dependencies

Dependency and Impediment Management Definition

Dependency and impediment management is the practice of identifying, tracking, and actively working to resolve both the external reliances a team's work depends on and the active obstacles preventing that work from proceeding.

Project Dependency Definition

A project dependency is a relationship in which a piece of work cannot proceed, or cannot be considered complete, until another piece of work or external condition has been satisfied.

Internal Dependency Definition

An internal dependency is a dependency on another team or resource within the same organization, typically more manageable through direct coordination than a dependency involving an outside party.

External Dependency Definition

An external dependency is a dependency on a party or condition outside the organization altogether, such as a third-party vendor, typically requiring different coordination approaches given the reduced degree of direct control available.

Defining Impediments

Work Impediment Definition

A work impediment is anything actively preventing progress on a specific piece of work, ranging from a minor slowdown to a complete halt, distinguished from a risk by already being an active, present obstacle rather than a future possibility.

Blocking Impediment Definition

A blocking impediment is an impediment severe enough to fully halt progress on the affected work until it is resolved, distinguished from a lesser impediment that slows work without stopping it entirely.

Managing Dependencies

Dependency Owner Definition

A dependency owner is the person accountable for tracking a specific dependency and ensuring the necessary coordination happens to resolve it in time, providing clear responsibility so a dependency does not go unmanaged.

Dependency Coordination Definition

Dependency coordination is the active communication and alignment work required to keep a dependent relationship on track, ensuring that both sides of a dependency remain aware of timing and any changes affecting it.

Resolving Impediments

Impediment Escalation Definition

Impediment escalation is the act of raising a blocking impediment to someone with the authority or resources to resolve it, used when the team itself lacks the ability to remove the obstacle on its own.

Impediment Resolution Definition

Impediment resolution is the point at which an obstacle has actually been removed and the affected work is able to proceed again, closing the loop between an impediment's identification and its eventual removal.