Tailoring starts with context
Tailoring means deliberately adapting governance, planning, documentation, decision rights and delivery practices to the work. It is not permission to remove controls without understanding why they exist.
Assess five dimensions
| Question | Practical answer |
|---|---|
| Uncertainty | How much do we know about the solution? |
| Change | How often are requirements likely to move? |
| Risk | What happens if we get it wrong? |
| Constraints | What cannot move — date, compliance, contract, architecture? |
| Feedback | How quickly can users or stakeholders evaluate the work? |
Make the interfaces explicit
Hybrid projects fail when the predictive and adaptive parts are disconnected. Define how a sprint output enters the release process, who approves changes, how dependencies are tracked, and which milestones are non-negotiable.