For employees, project reviews can feel a bit like giving a presentation in school. Just another awkward formality for them to get through. Yet asking the right questions in project review meetings sets the tone and makes all the difference to their effectiveness.
So, what are project reviews for? And how can you get the best from them?
Project reviews are check-ins over the course of a project to ensure everything’s going to plan. They focus on achieving key targets and resolving challenges. And, ideally, you’ll combine them with a post-completion evaluation and capture learnings for future projects. But how do you get the best from them? You’ll need to look at:
- Why you need regular project update meetings
- 4 key questions to ask before you start
- 3 questions to review as the project progresses
- 3 questions to consider for the future
Why project update meetings are essential
At the risk of stating the obvious, reviewing new or ongoing projects is a key business action. Otherwise, you run the risk of greenlighting unfeasible or irrelevant projects, or running hugely off track and off budget.
Project reviews are especially important where employees have high levels of autonomy. While that might sound contradictory, autonomy allows people to make their own decisions, but you need to ensure they’re heading in the right direction. Project updates help you set clear expectations and keep projects focused on their goals. So how do you make this happen?
10 key questions for project review meetings
Figuring out what to ask in these meetings can be a real headscratcher, especially if this is your first time conducting one. This isn’t a typical performance conversation, after all. Rather it’s an in-depth check-in which covers broader goals and deliverables.
So, we’ve provided ten essential questions for project review meetings below to make sure you hit the key points. You’ll find the questions split into three sections to emphasize the focus at each stage of the project. The questions for the first two phases, however, could (and probably should) be considered in all reviews.
Questions to ask before project kick-off
1. What’s the end-goal of this project?
The first thing you need to figure out is what you’re trying to achieve. Projects are often put together with general aims in mind, but now you need to get specific. What’s your metric for success? Is it a numerical figure? A specific outcome?
Asking questions about what your main goal is during your initial project review is especially important if you’re using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). That end goal is a great way to connect individual employee assignments to company objectives.
It also helps limit scope creep, an issue which over one-third of projects are subject to (Project Management Institute). As projects progress, their shape or requirements can shift. Being clear on your overall goal is essential for keeping everyone on track.
2. What will each stage of the project look like?
Clarifying each step in the process allows you to foresee potential roadblocks. And it limits the chances of you giving the go-ahead on half an idea. By creating a roadmap for the project, you’re using SMART planning in action, and breaking it down into smaller, simpler tasks.
These milestones identify what you should see at each stage. And they act as motivators. People see they’re making progress and know what to look for to be able to say something’s complete.
3. What’s the budget for this project?
You want to understand the aims and potential benefits of a project. But you also need to know the costs involved.
Different projects impose different financial demands. You might need new software, which can be pretty costly. With more than $100 billion (US) was spent on enterprise resource planning (ERP) software globally last year, it’s no wonder you need to plan ahead.
So, use your project review to ask about additional costs. Will you need overtime, more people, an advertising budget, or a social media campaign? This might not prevent unpleasant surprises later, but at least you’ll have a budget to work with. And that’s what informs your decisions about priorities.
4. Are there risks to the business or its employees?
Risks to the business could be systems impacts, downtime for rolling out new processes, products or training, and a whole host of other things. These are often considered, but the element which gets forgotten is your people.
Wellbeing is a key focus for many business, but lots of private sector organizations still have a way to go. They need better approaches to avoid employee risks, such as:
- Burnout
- Excessive workloads
- Job stress
- Work-related health problems (physical and mental)
When you assess these risks upfront, you spot areas for concern and can take action to mitigate them as you go. This not only protects the business and employees internally, but also plays an important role in diffusing potential PR nightmares before they happen.
Regular review questions to ask during the project
Once the project’s up and running, communication is key. Updating stakeholders, addressing concerns, reviewing resource needs – these all change. It’s also worth revisiting questions one to four to ensure your focus hasn’t wandered. So, consider asking:
- Are the original/current project goals still relevant?
- What does the next stage of the project look like?
- How is the project tracking against the budget?
- How well are any risks to employees/the business being managed?
In addition, you’ll want to consider:
- How well are you keeping team members updated?
- What are you doing to address the concerns of project teams and other stakeholders?
- What additional support do you need?
5. How well informed are your project team?
Good communication practices are the lifeblood of an effective workplace. Yet the leading cause of employee stress in UK small-medium sized businesses a few years ago was failure to communicate effectively.
Asking questions about how well you’re communicating in your project reviews encourages feedback on what’s working and what isn’t. Project leaders need to circulate information and maintain documentation. They also want to avoid spamming or micromanaging their teams, so help them get the balance right.
Side note: If you reviewed this question at project kick off, you may have agreed the channels of communication you’re using. Take the opportunity to check they’re working as intended. And, if not, make changes now to improve internal communication going forward. Its effectiveness is critical to project success.
6. Are you addressing the concerns of your stakeholders?
Good communication practice isn’t just about knowing what’s happening in the project. It’s also about addressing wider concerns. You might find projected timelines are unrealistic, or perhaps there’s a change in leadership. Whilst they still support the aims of the project, your new leader may have questions their predecessor did not.
That’s why project reviews must ask about the concerns of all your stakeholders. It links back to the risks you identified in question 4. And allows you to recognize and resolve issues for your leadership, team members and the business.
7. What additional support do you require?
Depending on how the project’s progressing, you may find the answer is “nothing”. Yet opening this discussion encourages people to think broadly. Perhaps there’s a process that’s slowing things down, or an approver who’s creating a block. Not everything is about extra resources or money you hadn’t planned to spend.
Ambitious project leaders may want to show you they can succeed with the bare minimum. Yet, that isn’t always the best way to get things done. So make sure your people are using all the resources at their disposal. And also explore job flexibility, or second internal knowledge specialists to tackle specific issues as they arise.
Project review questions once the project has finished
Retrospective reviews are a useful learning experience. They help you look at the successes and challenges of the project you’ve completed. And encourage learnings you can apply for future projects.
8. How would you rate the success of this project?
As with any performance-related review, the goal of this question is to share an understanding. Team members working on projects pick up details you’re too busy to notice. And, as the manager, you may have context which others can’t see.
It’s also a useful question to ask in your regular 1:1 meetings so you recognize individual contributions, or areas of concern. Of course, this should be done throughout the span of the project, but the final review offers a summary of how well (or not) you’ve performed on the whole as a team.
9. Will this project lead to future endeavors?
Was this project a one-hit wonder, or are there more albums waiting to be recorded? You don’t always know this immediately, as long-term outcomes can be hard to predict.
If you’re likely to do more of this project – an extension or repeat – you’ll spend more time thinking about the learnings. And considering how to make improvements at all stages.
Equally, if it’s a one-off, it’s still useful to reflect. Think about the people, for example. How well did they work together and who would be the dream team for a future project?
10. What have you learned that will benefit future projects?
This is the part of the project review where you ask what happened and how things can be improved?
Whether it’s a particular challenge that arose, an issue with internal processes or even inter-team relationship concerns, there’s always something to be gleaned from what you’ve just done.
Make sure, before you close the project completely, you identify any lessons you need to learn. And record them for the future so things run even smoother next time.
Make project reviews a habit
Like everything when you start it, project reviews might feel a bit of a pain. More time planning, less time doing. In some cases, leaders will see that as a waste of the resources you have. What’s important, however, is to get into that habit.
Taking the time to plan out where you’re going and checking you’re still on track can save you days in miscommunication. So set your reviews up at the outset, until they become second nature. Before you know it, you’ll be seeing the benefits and will hold regular performance conversations for everyone.
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