Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Categories: audit
It’s the time of year where people are thinking about how well projects are performing. (Actually, isn’t that all year round?) Which means it’s health check and ‘look back’ time for lots of project managers as they evidence what they’ve done all year and how it has made a difference.
A health check is a useful thing to be thinking about as it shows how the project has performed and what areas you might want to focus in on as you move into 2026 – for this project or for other projects.
However, I know a lot of project managers avoid them because they feel like they will uncover too many skeletons in the closet – there’s too much scrutiny on what might have gone wrong. No one wants to intentionally put themselves in a position where poor performance or bad choices might point the finger of blame at them.
Putting that aside, if you can reframe a health check as a positive way to reinforce what is working and focus in on what is not, they are a useful exercise. As a team leader, you can talk to your team about running reflection sessions to dive into how the project is going.
When to do a health check
There is no ‘right time’ to do a health check but here is when I would be scheduling one:
- Mid-project reset
- Change in leadership/sponsor
- Post-crisis or post-pause
Or at any other time where it fits your governance model.
What to cover in a health check
In a health check, you’ll be looking at scope, schedule, budget, risks, stakeholder satisfaction, team morale and anything else you think might be relevant to help understand project performance.
Tools and templates
You probably have all the right tools and templates already. Check out your PMO document library for:
- Simple scorecard
- RAG review
- Short-form survey that you use with stakeholders and team members to get feedback
How to run it
Keep it short and constructive. You don’t need to spend ages planning for it, or ages holding it. The notes and write up should be short and to the point, highlighting areas to continue and areas to switch up and try something new.
Involve neutral facilitators if needed. Sometimes (I’d say all the time) we are often too close to our own projects to be able to see what is going on in an objective way.
Use it to align and re-energise. The whole experience should leave the team feeling lighter and more able to focus on what is coming up for project milestones – it’s not ideal to leave with a huge To Do list of improvements that you won’t have time to implement. Aim to get two or three things out of it that you can do easily to help the team move forward and improve project performance. Any more than that and chances are you won’t ever reach the end of the list. You’ll spend more time trying to implement process improvements than delivering the project, and that isn’t a good result for anyone.
Remember: Work with the team to reframe health checks as maintenance, not judgment. They should be something that easily slot into the project schedule and are a positive experience with some great learnings that you can implement quickly.
Leave the deep dives for full-on audits and keep quick health checks part of your retro routine!
Posted on: November 22, 2025 12:00 AM |
Permalink