How to Know When Your Project is at Risk and What To Do About It
You are the project sponsor. Your role may distance you from essential project details. If this is the case you may only be aware of the project’s “high level” status. Effective risk management requires a more detailed understanding. How will you know if your understanding is too high level? How can you quickly assess project risk? Here is what you need to do to assess and manage project risk.
Have you been experiencing any of these symptoms?:
- Feeling uneasy about project progress and don’t know what to do about it
- Don’t fully understand project activities, deliverables and time lines
- Don’t know who is leading what
- Can’t recite the project milestones
- Feel like the Far Side dog when listening to your project leader, “blah, blah, blah, blah…”
- Don’t understand the project acronyms
If you see yourself in this quick self analysis, it is time to follow these simple steps and avoid potential project melt downs.
1. Tell your project leader that you would like an in-depth project review led by him/her with each of the functional and content leads presenting status on their area of expertise. Ask them to summarize with good graphics, diagrams and data. Explain that you will be asking a lot of questions so that you, and they, will be able to explain the project to anyone who asks going forward.
2. Have someone assigned to write down your questions and answers and use this to start your FAQs….that would be “Frequently Asked Questions”.
3. In the privacy of your home or office, read the FAQs and remember the answers. Jot down clarifying questions and get them answered within 48 hours.
4. Use your FAQs to drive your next presentation to senior staff or key stakeholders.
If you don’t know what’s going on, you can be sure that no-one else does.
If you do this, your team will see you as involved and committed to understanding the project details. Your executive peers will hear about it and know you are on top of it – because you are.
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