{"id":8863,"date":"2018-03-07T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/?p=8863"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:58:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:58:52","slug":"risk-early-conversations-make-better-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watermarklearning.com\/blog\/risk-early-conversations-make-better-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Risk – Early Conversations Make For Better Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DominoesEvery project and every project stakeholder deserves some risk management, no matter how small or simple the project.<\/p>\n

That is a sentiment I often share with my project management<\/a> students, inspired by an experience I had managing a small project years ago.<\/p>\n

I was assigned to a project that had to be delivered in a short period of time. Fortunately, the product was very familiar to me and the team, and we had done similar types of projects in the past. Further, team members already knew each other and the SMEs in the organization who would be providing support.<\/p>\n

Even though I had worked with the team members previously, I had concerns about one of them, Jon, because we hadn\u2019t used him in this particular role. I did not think that what he was providing on the project played to his strengths. But since no one else seemed concerned and we were in a rush, I decided to move ahead without any discussion around project risks. I didn\u2019t want to be a nay-sayer. We had done this before and these team members were familiar with the product, the organization, and each other. What could possibly go wrong? I figured we would just cross that bridge if, and when, we got to it.<\/p>\n

Learn More about our Project Risk Management Course<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, many weeks into the project, we got to that bridge. Jon produced his deliverable \u2013 and it was a mess. Way worse than I could have imagined. Total show-stopper. What was even messier, however, was having to tell my sponsor about the problem. As much as anything, I was frustrated with having to present what appeared to be a \u201csurprise\u201d to my sponsor. I wasn\u2019t looking to say, \u201cI told you so,\u201d but the burden of the mad scramble to respond felt heavier than it no doubt would have if the sponsor and others had been aware.<\/p>\n

Many late-night phone calls and floor pacing ensued along with considerable stress just trying to figure out how to communicate what had happened. Actually, developing a response to the issue felt entirely secondary to the challenge of communicating that it had occurred. I couldn\u2019t see clear to a solution because I was so concerned about my sponsor\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

For many, the reaction to something like this on projects is often emotional and poorly scaled. Further, the inclination is to spend time figuring out how a problem could have happened, what could have prevented it, what should have been done differently, etc. While the intention of those reactions isn\u2019t always to place blame, they often leave people feeling like they did something wrong and it can create negative energy on the project. That was certainly the case with this project.<\/p>\n

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