Assuming you created a proper risk assessment and communication plan before your product innovation project begins, there are many levers you can pull during the project's duration to communicate with stakeholders effectively. Make a health check dashboard available at all times and keep it updated. Ensure reasons for delays are properly articulated and offer additional options for potential pivots that may keep the project on track.

In my experience, it's been critical to have an established innovation process, with known benchmarks at key stage gates, and regular senior mgt check-in mtgs that create a streamlined process where key stakeholders are kept abreast of project status, obstacles and opportunity areas. At the project level, teams have regular check-ins, make all key dashboards, data and research available to all, and effectively identify and address roadblocks along the way. Issues that can't be resolved are elevated to x-functional team leaders, and ultimately brought to senior mgt check-ins if resolution is unattainable. This process creates a transparent and collaborative approach that I've found to be very successful in addressing delays and obstacles.

One thing I found useful is Innovation Transparency Dashboard. It is a live, interactive platform providing real-time updates on project status, key milestones, and challenges. It uses visual indicators like a traffic light system to highlight project progress and delays, making it easy for stakeholders to grasp the situation at a glance. The dashboard includes root cause analyses of delays and is accessible anytime, ensuring transparency. It also offers a section for stakeholder feedback, fostering open communication and collaborative problem-solving, keeping everyone aligned towards the project's success.

It is pretty simple. Did you deliver the joy for your customer? If yes: You are on time. Does the outcome produce a success for you as a organization because customers are happy? If yes: Your are on time. Did you promise to integrate a feature for a stakeholder not being the customer? If yes: you are looking at the wrong customer. We all know that timelines are important. But never loose sight of the one stakeholder. The customer. Ask stakeholders what is so important for their timeline that connects to the customer? If they tell you: the management asked for it. Not a priority. In general participant sharing during the development is the way to keep everyone in the loop. There is no other timeline as your customer‘s love for your product.

In such cases, open and honest communication about the deliverables and timelines are the key factors. Always have a timeline with a small buffer and whenever you present a roadmap to the stakeholders make sure at each milestone you have the dependency chart(tech and non tech) along with their expected timelines and go in an iterative or small chunk approach and move to the next milestone once all the pieces of the earlier milestone are sorted and cleared.