OVERVIEW

Assumptions are the unasked and unanswered questions that can throw your project or team into invisible chaos. They influence objectivity and impact output, both of which can increase and complicate project risk without you even knowing it.

Project risk assessments tend to take place at the start of a work engagement and are (hopefully) tracked throughout. While this is useful, such tracking is normally executed by a single individual based on the original risk set and it and the ongoing statuses are rarely shared with project team members.

When work is in-progress, however, new questions and assumptions abound every day. You need to check for them and check in place. Identifying these sooner rather than later means you can act quicker to alleviate their influence and impact and lessen current and potential risks.

BASIC STEPS

1. Create an assumption grid

Draw a grid separated into four (4) quadrants. Place risk on the y-axis and certainty on the x-axis.

2. Plot the assumptions

Ask team members (and any other people you want) to write down their assumptions as statements or questions on sticky notes and then place on the grid where they decide it should go. Make sure there is only one assumption per note so they can be easily moved around later on.

You can use different coloured notes for different teams, but it is best to use the same colour to lessen confusion and make it a true team effort.

You can do this in a scheduled session or just post and have people add to it as they need or want. 

3. Challenge the Assumptions

Bring everyone together and begin working through the assumptions on the grid. Analyze each assumption to determine its truthfulness and impact to the work.

Here are two questions you can use to do this:

• Are we certain we know the correct answer to this question / statement?
• What is the risk level if the answer is wrong?