October 29, 2024

Always front load your project risk (TLP 2024w43)

6 minutes

On why it is so important to tackle the riskiest topics at the beginning of your projects.

Notes:

As we near the end of the year, like many of you, I have a lot of project deadlines approaching.

Q4 in a company tends to a be a very busy time, when we are closing projects while opening planning and budgeting for the following year.

For one of my projects, some topics that contain risk are not closed yet. That always makes me nervous.

This week I was discussing with the PM that we need to address those topics now, rather than leaving them to the very end.

The reason for that is simple: if there is undiscovered additional work required for those risky topics, it is better to discover that while there is still enough time to do anything about it.

If you leave it to the end, it's too late.

According to the dictionary, to front-load means: ": to assign costs or benefits to the early stages of (such as a contract, project, or time period)", ref: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/front-load

Here I am talking about risk, which you can certainly consider to be a form of cost if those risks come through.

I see this anti-pattern in all aspects of life all of the time: people will often delay the difficult topics, instead choosing to concentrate on "low hanging fruit" or easy topics instead.

A strong leader will always tackle the hard topics first, as they know that is where the risk is, especially when those topics are on the critical path of a project.

As a leader, you must train your teams to take the same approach.

They must not be tempted to avoid such topics, and it is your job to remind them to stay on track.

Hit the hard topics hard and fast, and see what falls out.

What I am working this week:

Adding search suggestions and auto-complete to greppr.org

Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/665-Always-front-load-your-project-risk-(TLP-2024w43)

...more

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By John Collins

October 29, 2024

Always front load your project risk (TLP 2024w43)

6 minutes

On why it is so important to tackle the riskiest topics at the beginning of your projects.

Notes:

As we near the end of the year, like many of you, I have a lot of project deadlines approaching.

Q4 in a company tends to a be a very busy time, when we are closing projects while opening planning and budgeting for the following year.

For one of my projects, some topics that contain risk are not closed yet. That always makes me nervous.

This week I was discussing with the PM that we need to address those topics now, rather than leaving them to the very end.

The reason for that is simple: if there is undiscovered additional work required for those risky topics, it is better to discover that while there is still enough time to do anything about it.

If you leave it to the end, it's too late.

Here I am talking about risk, which you can certainly consider to be a form of cost if those risks come through.

I see this anti-pattern in all aspects of life all of the time: people will often delay the difficult topics, instead choosing to concentrate on "low hanging fruit" or easy topics instead.

A strong leader will always tackle the hard topics first, as they know that is where the risk is, especially when those topics are on the critical path of a project.

As a leader, you must train your teams to take the same approach.

They must not be tempted to avoid such topics, and it is your job to remind them to stay on track.

Hit the hard topics hard and fast, and see what falls out.

What I am working this week:

Adding search suggestions and auto-complete to greppr.org

Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/665-Always-front-load-your-project-risk-(TLP-2024w43)

...more

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Always front load your project risk (TLP 2024w43)

Always front load your project risk (TLP 2024w43)