Observations from the field – if you’re going to be held accountable for making sure a conversation happens, then make sure the conversation happens.

One aspect of business that his often difficult to manage is making sure the difficult conversations that need to occur during a project actually do occur. The topics of these kinds of conversations can vary from delivery dates, budgets, team dynamics, etc. The underlying theme is that for a variety of reasons, no one wants to bring them up when the team is discussing the project. I think a lot of the difficulty comes directly from people’s desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. That is people tend to not address the problematic issues, or it they do, not address them directly.  This causes issues when the problems, left unaddressed begin to affect the team’s or organization’s performance, or in a worst case scenario doom the project. Conversely, by focusing on the easier conversations a team might develop an overly optimistic view of a project and miss potential pitfalls along the way.

So how does one address this issue? I think it’s best done by stressing honesty and integrity. Frequently reminding the entire team that they collectively have the responsibility (and duty) to talk openly and honestly about their project and commitments, both good and bad, can go a long way to mitigate this potential time bomb. The way I like to describe it is; if you are responsible for making sure the team addresses the 500 lb. gorilla in the room, don’t mince words. At an iteration review meeting, or a similar time when it is appropriate, bring up the topic by stating ‘One of my roles is to make sure we talk about this 500 lb. gorilla. So I would like to do that now.’ Then begin stating your understandings, questions, etc. about the topic.

It can be uncomfortable to do this the first couple of times, but after a while it becomes matter of fact. With experience, one realizes that the fear and anxiety are usually associated with brining up difficult topics are a personal reaction that should be separated from the business needs associated with discussing the topic. Even if you never get over the butterflies, you start gaining the ability to address topics for their business value, not your personal value. That’s where the integrity and honesty come into play. If you have a high sense of integrity and honesty, then the personal aspects of difficult conversations become even more moot. Instead, your can rely on your sense of ethics to help bring the hard topics to the table.

Another aspect that helps mitigate this risk is to have a role, owned by someone on the team, within the project that makes sure these topics are brought up. Usually this responsibility falls to the project manager. If the project manager is unable to fulfill this responsibility, then someone else must take it over. Some options might be an outside executive, another person on the team with the role as the devil’s advocate or even a group of project manages that critique each other and then present their findings. It cannot be left orphaned, or the conversations will not occur.