Have you ever played the game Telestrations?

It’s basically a combination of Telephone (where players whisper something in someone’s ear and they whisper to the next player, and so on.) and Pictionary.

It gets to be pretty hilarious by the end because things get so lost in translation that the phrases and drawings aren’t anywhere close to each other.

As a game, it’s goofy and fun. But in business, it can lead to absolute disaster especially when it comes to managing projects.

Why Do Things Get Lost In Translation?

Frankly, we don’t get nearly enough information upfront when we take on a new project.

This doesn’t mean a project is doomed to fail, but it does leave a ton of room to make things to go a lot smoother. And if you’re not managing your projects efficiently, then project management as a whole can become a bit of a drag.

So how do we make our projects run smoothly and, dare I say, fun?

It’s simple…

JUST. ASK. QUESTIONS.

Ask all the questions. Embody that old saying, “there are no stupid questions”. Questions are the easiest way to set yourself up for success in any project you take on.

Asking a lot of questions upfront provides you with 3 key benefits:

1. Questions Provide Clarity

Why do we ask questions in the first place? So we can get answers. So we can get CLARITY.

When it comes to business and managing projects, we want clarity on the root of the problem we’re trying to solve. We can’t get there if we’re not asking questions.

Understanding the problem then helps you understand the true definition of success.

You gather the success criteria at the beginning of a project, but if you aren’t probing your project sponsor and stakeholders about the problem you’re trying to solve then you may find that those success criteria will change down the road.

Only after you truly understand the problem and the success criteria can you put together a comprehensive scope or action plan. All of the questions you ask in the beginning can do a lot of things to make you look good as a project manager – but what’s one of the most important things it does?

2. Questions Save You Money

Every project has a budget, and as project managers it is our job to make sure the project doesn’t go over budget.

How does asking questions protect your budget?

Great question (see what I did there? 😉)

The primary way questions save you money is by minimizing and mitigating risk. The more you know, the more you can plan for. It’s almost as if you’re giving yourself the power of foresight – and what businessperson wouldn’t love the ability to see a pitfall before they reach it?

Successfully avoiding risk = more money in your client’s pocket (and probably in yours too).

3. Questions Save You Time

It’s been said a zillion times over the course of history – time is our most precious resource.

That saying is especially powerful in business. The more time you can save in a project, the more time there is for you and your client to focus on other impactful projects. You can’t expect yourself to save any time if you’re just going through the motions and not asking all the questions to can upfront.

This is where points 1 and 2 combine. With the clarity and foresight you’ve gained by asking a ton of questions, you allow yourself to put together a fool-proof plan to execute the project.

There are very few things more satisfying than when a project goes EXACTLY as you planned it. Personally, this is my project management holy grail – but the odds of achieving that reduce drastically if you’re not gathering as much information as you possibly can before putting your plan together.

Conclusion

The best project managers are in some ways the most annoying ones. They were the kids in school that got extra credit in everything they did and made us all look bad.

Why is that?

Because they asked the questions that no one else did. They understood the assignments and they accomplished the 3 things that the rest of us should be always be after in every endeavor:

• We should gain clarity

• We should save money

• We should save time

Ultimately, we can accomplish these 3 things if we aren’t afraid to raise our hands and ask the questions that (probably) everyone else has. Your projects and your career will be better because of it.

Thanks for reading.

-Josh

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