May 10, 2017
Best Practices, Issues and Risks, Project Management, Risk Assessment
By Stephen Alfano, CSM
Full disclosure, I made three assumptions before I wrote this blog post:
If you are still reading this blog post (thank you!), you probably figured out my stratagem quickly and decided to chalk it up to a level-setting parlor trick used to underscore the “tricky” nature of assumptions. (You saw what I did: That statement is an assumption.) So, let’s move on, starting with an official, textbook definition of an assumption.
An assumption is, “a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.” Of course, how would you know this definition is the definition you seek? How could you be sure it comes from a legitimate and “official” source? (Tricky, right?) In short, an assumption needs to be validated.
For more insight on validating assumptions, check out these links below:
ASSUMPTIONS ARE MADE TO BE VALIDATED via Leading Agile
The Need to Validate Project Assumptionss via Business 2 Community
5 Tips to Make Sure You Are Validating Early and Often via Kissmetrics
Case Study: Using the 5 Whys to Validate Assumptions via iSixSigma
Identifying and Validating Assumptions and Mitigating Biases in User Research via UX Matters
Build Better Products: How to Identify and Validate Assumptions via Users Know / SlideShare
Now it’s your turn—what are some of your best practices to validate assumptions and reduce risk on your projects? Or, what other trouble spots does your project have—we’d love to cover some mitigation techniques in a future blog post!
About the Author: Stephen Alfano is Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM), Organizational Change Management Consultant and Communications Expert. He has 30 years of experience leading and managing internal and external program initiatives for both private and public-sector clients. His résumé includes providing both new business and business process improvement services to Apple, American Express, AT&T, California Department of Transportation, Chevron, Entergy, Levi Strauss & Co., Louisiana Office of Tourism, Mattel, Microsoft, Novell, SONY, Sutter Health, and Wells Fargo. Stephen currently works as Marketing and Communications Manager for KAI Partners, Inc., spearheading business development and leading the firm’s marketing and communications practice and line of business.
Leave a Reply