United States | Making an ass out of you and me

Insentra - 25.10.201920191025

Making an ass out of you and me

United States | Making an ass out of you and me

…winning through healthy management of assumptions!

Cheeky? Yes, but I thought I’d see what I could get away with! So, what are assumptions and how can they impact our project outcomes?

Firstly, what is an assumption? The Oxford dictionary defines an assumption as: “A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof”. Even the Project Management Institute’s definition aligns with this statement; assumptions are “factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real, or certain without proof or demonstration” (Project Management Institute (PMI), 2008, p148). We need assumptions to progress and move the project forward. Assumptions are, in the beginning, considered true, however they may not end up that way. So, what happens?

I am pretty sure you’ve all experienced that what you thought was a commonly held belief, was not shared amongst the project team. The assumption was incorrect, and you realise your project isn’t as healthy as you thought. Assumptions are risky business and need to be watched with a keen eye.

At Insentra, we host kick-off meetings with our customers and partners and walk through all the important facets of the project, including the assumptions. Discussing the assumptions is critical to establishing if they are true. It enables discussion and provides all parties with the understanding of what is required to progress. Communication is the key to managing any project successfully, with tracking and managing assumptions no different. Tracking is required throughout the entire lifecycle of a project and this involves managing existing assumptions and recording new ones as they arise.

On a side note, we are so accustomed to assumptions that we barely recognize many that we take for granted every day. For example, we speak or understand the common language used by the group and assume that our colleagues are available and willing to listen. We assume we’re all on the same page and following the same set of rules in a largely unconscious way. I guess my point, “finally” I hear you say, is that we live and work in a world full of assumptions every day. How do we minimise the threat that assumptions have on our projects? Well I am so glad you asked… read on, dear friends, read on!

Managing Assumptions

Our assumptions are mostly quietly held beliefs, not often articulated in the concourse of daily life. For instance, I take for granted that everyone in the office speaks English so I don’t start a sentence with “do you speak English and are you willing to listen and understand what I am saying?” Goodness, I’d be laughed out of the office! It seems, as with everything Project Management, communication is the key. We need to talk and talk and talk until we close the project. Keeping things hidden or our assumption quiet can really cause problems down the track. At Insentra, we seek to understand the critical elements of our projects. Our project team, which usually consists of our partners and customers, is a close-knit group. We work collaboratively to capture all the project risks, issues

and assumptions. I find sharing this journey with the team so rewarding. I get the feeling they find it that way too, as they say, we’re all in this together.

When we manage assumptions through communication, we need consider the following;

  • Be clear with our terminology, not everyone is familiar with acronyms or abbreviated words as this can cause black holes in communication if members of the team don’t have this knowledge
  • Be specific with words and avoid ambiguous terms as this can cause frustration when a team member says words like “later” but means tomorrow
  • Discuss the identified assumptions and track each throughout the project in an Assumptions Log
  • Challenge team assumptions to validate them
  • Discuss what happens if an assumption is incorrect and the impact it will have on the project
  • Respect people and be kind. Being right doesn’t always mean you win

The Assumption Log

The PMI suggest that Project Managers should track assumptions using an “Assumption Log: which is used to record all assumptions and constraints throughout the project lifecycle”. (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition 2017, p698; italics mine).

The assumption log could include;

  1. A unique identifier
  2. A description of the assumption being made
  3. The impact on the project if the assumption is found to be incorrect
  4. The owner of the assumption
  5. Actions and updates
  6. Status: validated or unvalidated
  7. Lessons learned for future projects

As communication is the key to managing a project, discuss the contents of your assumption log in your weekly status meeting or project status report as this will assist in exposing any incorrect assumptions held by the project stakeholders.

I have loved talking about assumptions and learned a little bit myself along the way. I hope you have gained something from my exposé on assumptions and their role, both advantageous and mischievous. Have you had an assumption that was once considered true suddenly stop your project in its tracks? I’d be so grateful to hear about it. Until next time, happy project managing!

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United States | Making an ass out of you and me

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United States | Making an ass out of you and me

Insentra ISO 27001:2013 Certification

SYDNEY, WEDNESDAY 20TH APRIL 2022 – We are proud to announce that Insentra has achieved the  ISO 27001 Certification.