You have a workable plan. Three drafts will be ready at 11, and Maya, Eli, and Priya can independently review one report each by noon. Article 4 established this arrangement by confirming Priya's availability and approving her reassignment.

Before work begins, another option becomes available. Suppose Tomas, an external reviewer, is qualified, independent of the writers, and authorized to read report C. He confirms availability from 11 to noon. His additional fee is $150, within the approved budget.

In this example, Priya's other commitment is a one-hour customer planning meeting. Everyone involved has confirmed they can attend at either 11 or 2. If Priya reviews C, the meeting moves to 2. If Tomas reviews C, Priya can keep the meeting at 11. Maya and Eli review A and B in either arrangement.

Both arrangements satisfy the report requirements. Follow Review C and the customer meeting across the maps and schedules below: changing who owns the review changes when Priya can attend the meeting.

Review C and the customer meeting in two workable arrangements Each arrangement has a relationship map and schedule for the same two tasks. Priya owns Review C and the customer meeting in the first arrangement: review runs from 11 am to noon and the meeting from 2 to 3 pm, with no additional reviewer fee. In the second, Tomas owns Review C from 11 am to noon while Priya attends the meeting at the same time; the additional reviewer fee is $150. People are ovals, review tasks are teal rounded rectangles, and meetings are amber rounded rectangles. The dashed line marks the noon review deadline. Priya reviews C Additional reviewer fee: $0 Relationships Review C Customer meeting Priya assigned to assigned to Schedule 11 am–3 pm 11 Noon 1 2 3 Review C Meeting Priya Priya Tomas reviews C Additional reviewer fee: $150 Relationships Review C Customer meeting Tomas Priya assigned to assigned to Schedule 11 am–3 pm 11 Noon 1 2 3 Review C Meeting Tomas Priya
The same tasks appear in each map and schedule; the bars name their owners. Priya owns both tasks on the left, so their times differ. On the right, two people can work in parallel. Times run from 11 am to 3 pm.

Qualification, independence, and the noon deadline determine which arrangements qualify. The additional fee and the effect on other work help us choose among those that qualify. An unqualified reviewer would fail the requirements regardless of how attractive the fee looked.

The figure records an additional reviewer fee. Priya's time also has value, and moving her meeting changes someone else's schedule. We have not estimated those consequences in dollars, so the fee alone cannot establish which arrangement has the lower overall cost.

If avoiding an additional fee is the agreed priority, choose the Priya arrangement. If preserving the customer meeting is the priority and the fee is acceptable, choose Tomas. A preference needs a stated basis. Finding one workable arrangement first does not establish that it is preferable to the others.

Suppose the manager chooses Tomas because keeping the customer meeting at 11 matters more in this case than avoiding the $150 fee. Record that reason alongside the alternatives and confirmed conditions. The decision makes the tradeoff explicit.

For your own decision, separate the requirements every arrangement must meet from the preferences used to compare them. Keep unknown costs or consequences visible. Then record which tradeoff the decision maker accepted and why.

Next: What Does Choosing an Arrangement Commit Us To? We will examine the actions and confirmations needed to carry out the selected plan.