Some Great Project Questions
August 23, 2012 4 Comments
Borrowed from a project approach called A3, here are sequentially some excellent project questions that serve as a litmus test for determining the overall health of a project. The answers, or lack thereof, serve as a leading indicator for subsequent meeting focus and areas of exploration for the facilitator.
- What is the problem or issue?
- Who owns the problem?
- What are the root causes of the problem?
- What are some possible countermeasures?
- How will you decide which countermeasures to propose?
- How will you get agreement from everyone concerned?
- What is your implementation plan—who, what, when, where, and how?
- How will you know if your countermeasures work?
- What follow-up issues can you anticipate?
- What problems may occur during implementation?
- How will you capture and share the learning?
- Who is responsible for this issue?
- Who owns the process for addressing the problem (or realizing the opportunity or managing the project)?
- What is the business context?
- How did you decide to tackle this problem?
- What do you actually know and how do you know it?
- Tow hat extent have you gathered and verified facts-not just data and anecdotes-to clearly understand the current state?
- To what extent have you engaged other people?
- What is the problem?
- Can you clearly and succinctly define the “presenting problem”—the actual business issue that is being felt?
- Have you identified the real problem?
- Can you show the gap between the target and the current condition?
- Did you clarify the optimal business objectives?
- Did you uncover the substantive (ie, most meaningful) information to support the analysis?
- Did you isolate the root cause(s) of the main components of the gap?
- Did you capture this material in the most clear and concise manner; ie, one that clarifies true problems, invites analytic questions, and suggests direct countermeasures?
Facilitation Skills
The FAST curriculum on Professional Facilitation Skills details the responsibilities and dynamics mentioned above. Remember friends, nobody is smarter than everybody, so consult your FAST Facilitator Reference Manual or attend a FAST professional facilitative leadership training workshop offered around the world (see MG Rush for a current schedule — an excellent way to earn 40 PDUs from PMI, CDUs from IIBA, or CEUs).
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About Facilitative Leader & Instructor
Great open ended questions. The dicsussion generated will be full of content.
Thank you. Look forward to challenges or additions from others.
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