If a milestone in the action plan is not going to be met, which action should be taken first?

• A. Increase the number of milestones
• B. Communicate goal progress with the appropriate stakeholders to identify the barriers and challenges that prevented the milestone from being met
• C. Change the goal to a less ambitious target
• D. Ignore the delay and continue as planned

Answer: (B)

The first step is to communicate goal progress with the appropriate stakeholders to identify the barriers and challenges that prevented the milestone from being met. This open update brings everyone relevant to the discussion, surfaces the exact blockers—whether they’re resource gaps, unclear dependencies, or scope issues—and creates a shared basis for fixing the course. With that understanding, you can adjust the plan intelligently—reallocating resources, re-sequencing work, shortening or extending timelines, or refining the milestone to a realistic target—while keeping stakeholders aligned. Adding more milestones would not address the root cause, and changing the goal should come after diagnosing and addressing the blockers. Ignoring the delay risks further drift and erodes trust.