Premortems to set up a project for success
As a product manager, I like to start every project with a premortem. A premortem is an exercise done to figure out how a project can fail and to work backward to ensure those failures don’t happen.
This is the best way I know to set up a project for success.
Crowdsource ideas
I particularly love this if you are new to a team or product, or technology. You’ll learn what everyone thinks (since most folks have at least one concern) and end with a list of advice from the most experienced in their domain. You will also learn the blind spots on the team e.g. did the team consider future known compliance needs? Or is your team factoring in their vacation schedules? Lastly, because there aren’t standards on the follow-up from a premortem, you get the wisdom of the crowds and ownership over the next steps.
Create space for the team
Premortems are a comfortable way for everyone on your team to bring up their fears about themselves and others. Because of the non-personal format, you’ll get an answer to “what will you and your coworkers suck at”, without having to be so blunt. I’ve had people volunteer their fear about a new type of coding involved or around time management as a first-time manager. While you may know some of the facts of the situation, until people state their concerns as it relates to themselves or others, you won’t know how important it is and if you should index on those situations.
Get confidence
Every project will have something bad happen and a premortem won’t stop that. But it can reduce the number of bad things from happening and makes you better prepared. On the later point, once the project starts, every person will dive into their workstream, and issues happen and vary in surprise levels. Given this eventuality, it feels good to at least begin the project on the same page as everyone else going in.
Format for premortem
I like the following structure for a premortem (which if this sounds familiar, I’ve stolen it from here):
Something like this fancy table:
I love this framework for any life choice where there exists a lot of fear. The framework helps me understand my fears and if/in what ways I need to be less complacent. I’ve often found by doing this activity — you discover there isn’t a lot of downside or real fears.
Originally published at https://serenagupta.substack.com.
