Project Management

Building your project upon faulty assumptions is, to coin a phrase attributed to George Washington, “Assuredly resting upon a broken staff.” What is real? What is assumed? Keep it grounded in facts.


Of course, assumptions are necessary. They are those little leaps of faith you need to connects your facts what you are trying to achieve. Historical data says that a canal will be passable 95 percent of the time in a given month. You need to get your construction supplies through the canal. It is a good assumption that the canal will be passable. Work it into your plan as an assumption. However – you also build a risk assessment and risk response plan that addresses “What if?” and “Then what?”

The most dangerous and easily avoided assumptions are those which anticipate what your stakeholders want, how your stakeholders will feel, or how your stakeholders will react. A way to avoid this is to – are you ready for this? – ask them. A little time spent on stakeholder management now can save you hours of rework later. What “they” want is easily clarified by addressing the anonymous “they.” Time spent in front of a face and a name pays enormous dividends. You might even discover a thing or two over and above the question that brought you to “them” in the first place…