Last updated on Sep 29, 2024

You're leading a project with high stakes. How can you convey risks to stakeholders without inciting fear?

Top experts in this article

Selected by the community from 7 contributions. Learn more

DANTES LAHENS

Management Consultant Helping Project Professionals Master Leadership for High-Impact Delivery | 5x LinkedIn Top Voiceâ€¦
Sojanya Tripathi

Manager - Technology @ KPMG India | Ex-HCL | Technical Project Manager, Service Delivery Manager | OutSystems | .NET |â€¦

1 Reply
Vismay Dalwadi (VD)

LinkedIn Top Voice |Project Manager -EPC Projects Management Experienced Professional with expertise in Projectâ€¦

When leading a high-stakes project, it's crucial to convey risks effectively. To navigate this challenge:

Be factual and specific: Detail risks with data and probabilities to provide context.

Focus on mitigation plans: Emphasize the steps being taken to minimize potential issues.

Maintain open dialogue: Encourage questions and discussions to build trust and understanding.

How do you discuss project risks while maintaining team confidence?

Add your perspective

DANTES LAHENS

Management Consultant Helping Project Professionals Master Leadership for High-Impact Delivery | 5x LinkedIn Top Voice ðŸ…
Report contribution
Own the narrative. Frame risks as solvable challenges, not threats. Highlight how past successes prove your ability to handle issues. Show confidence in the teamâ€™s expertise while reinforcing a proactive mindset. Keep the focus on solutions, not problems.

Like
Sojanya Tripathi

Manager - Technology @ KPMG India | Ex-HCL | Technical Project Manager, Service Delivery Manager | OutSystems | .NET | C# | SQL | SharePoint | Winshuttle | ZPL | AWS | Team Management | Client Management | Agile | Scrum
Report contribution
Believe me, the business team always understands concerns and risks, after we both are sailing the same boat. As a project lead, you just need to foster transparency and ensure that you present the risks with factual data and specific background, reason, justification and remediation & mitigation plan. Encourage the questions being asked by business & team, and try answering those with truthful and fact based information. It will help you build trust.

Like
Vismay Dalwadi (VD)

LinkedIn Top Voice |Project Manager -EPC Projects Management Experienced Professional with expertise in Project Management, Stake Holder Management, Order Management and Engineering with Customer Centric focus.
Report contribution
"Navigating risks is key to success, and together, we can steer the project towards its goals with confidence." When presenting risks to stakeholders, frame them as opportunities for proactive management rather than threats. Use clear, data-driven insights to outline potential risks while highlighting mitigation strategies already in place. Emphasize a solution-oriented approach and communicate that these risks are being actively monitored and controlled. Encourage collaboration and transparency, reassuring stakeholders that addressing challenges early will increase the likelihood of project success.

Like
Saurabh Oberoi

Information Technology Business Partner at KPMG India (view's are personal) | 4x Top LinkedIn Voice
Report contribution
To convey risks without inciting fear, focus on clarity and transparency. Present risks objectively, backed by data, and emphasize the actions in place to manage them. Show that while risks exist, they are manageable through contingency plans and ongoing monitoring. Prioritize the most critical risks to avoid overwhelming stakeholders, and highlight solutions to reassure them. Use visuals like risk matrices to put risks in perspective. Maintain a calm and confident tone, acknowledging risks but focusing on solutions. Finally, engage stakeholders by answering questions and inviting input, building trust through openness.

Like
Eslam Refaat

Projects Sales Director @ QDS Egypt | Linkedin Top Voice | Business development consultancy with expertise in Sales Growth, Business development strategies & Strategic Analysis & Planning
Report contribution
Its crucial nowdays, to address risks to your stakeholders, as well how handle the problem solving process, the same here as well what we are going to do to tackle risks, First you need to identify the risk and its impact on the whole project clearly and in transparent way, 2nd you need to address your plan and what you are doing to tackle such risks 3rd you will neeed to address the status of each risk assessment Finally follow up and regular check in with stakeholders will keep them updated and calm about the way you are handling the risks, With this you will gain trust of your project stakeholders

Like

Load more contributions

Directory

You're leading a project with high stakes. How can you convey risks to stakeholders without inciting fear?

Project Leadership

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Project Leadership

Directory

You're leading a project with high stakes. How can you convey risks to stakeholders without inciting fear?

Project Leadership

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills