Speak Now — or Forever Risk Your Projects

  Communications Management   Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

It can be difficult to have an open discussion about problems on a project — for reasons that range from workplace politics to personal communication styles. No wonder, many project leaders and team members are uncomfortable with raising red flags that could challenge the perceptions (or wishful thinking) of their sponsors and bosses. Here are 10 tips to help you breakdown the barriers and start those crucial conversations that just might save the project.

This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in Vital Smarts Crucial Skills newsletter, Vol. 5, Issue 18.

A recent VitalSmarts poll showed that over three-fourths of employees are working on projects that they believe are at serious risk. The problem is that over 80 percent say that approaching decision-makers to have a conversation about the perceived risks is almost impossible. This is why 80-90 percent of projects end up with disappointing results.

I'd like to offer ten tips to everyone struggling to speak up about project risks. Many of them apply to specific communication problems, but I hope that all of them are useful to readers facing a variety of project challenges.

1. Gather facts and question your hunches. Cynicism is the order of the day in most companies, so it's fashionable to predict failure. It can also become a self-fulfilling …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.