Run a Pre-Mortem on Your Big Project
Imagine your project already failed, then ask why. A 10-minute pre-mortem surfaces the risks everyone’s too polite to mention.
The idea
A post-mortem examines why a project failed after it’s over. A pre-mortem does it before the project starts. You imagine the project has already failed — then ask why. This breaks groupthink, surfaces the risks everyone was too polite to mention, and gives you time to prevent the failures you can actually predict.
Who is this for?
Kiran Reddy
Project Manager · Hyderabad
His team had shipped three projects that missed deadlines the same way — approvals always came late. He never saw it coming.
Before the next project he ran a pre-mortem: "Imagine it’s 3 months from now and we missed the deadline. What happened?" His team named the approval bottleneck in two minutes.
He built a 2-week buffer into the timeline. The project delivered on time.
"The failure you can name before it happens is the one you can prevent."
What you'll get
Risks named before they hit
You spot the likely failures while there’s still time to fix them.
Honest input from your team
The format gives everyone permission to voice concerns they’d normally keep quiet.
Your top 3 risks, prioritised
Scored by likelihood, so you focus on what actually matters.
A concrete plan change
One timeline, process, or communication change you make right now.
Watch
Online PM Courses (Mike Clayton) · 5:54
Do the challenge
1Pick your biggest active project
The one with the most at stake, the most moving parts, or the tightest deadline. That’s the one worth a pre-mortem.
2Set the scenario
"Imagine it’s [end date]. The project failed — genuinely failed. Why?" Give yourself 3 minutes to list everything that could have gone wrong. No filter, no politics.
3Score each risk H / M / L
Rate each one for likelihood. Circle your top 3 — the highest-likelihood failures.
💡 Run it with your team, not alone. The whole point is surfacing risks individuals won’t say out loud — a group naming failures together beats one person guessing.
4Mitigate the top 3
For each: one timeline change, one process change, or one communication change you’ll make now. Update your plan before you close this challenge.
💡 I'm running a pre-mortem on this project: [describe it in 2 lines]. Here are the top 3 risks I think could make it fail: 1. [risk] 2. [risk] 3. [risk] For each risk, suggest one concrete timeline change, one process change, and one communication change I could make now to prevent it. Be specific and practical.
Your template
Pre-Mortem Worksheet — [Project] — [Date] SCENARIO: It is [end date]. The project failed. What happened? STEP 1 — List failures fast (3 minutes, no filter): 1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___ 4. ___ 5. ___ 6. ___ 7. ___ 8. ___ 9. ___ 10. ___ STEP 2 — Score each for likelihood: H = High | M = Medium | L = Low STEP 3 — Top 3 risks to mitigate: Risk 1: ___ (Score: ___) → Mitigation: ___ Risk 2: ___ (Score: ___) → Mitigation: ___ Risk 3: ___ (Score: ___) → Mitigation: ___ STEP 4 — One change to the plan right now: Timeline change: ___ Process change: ___ Communication change: ___ REVISIT: save this in the project folder. Run another pre-mortem at the halfway point.
Knowledge Check
5 quick questions to make sure the main ideas landed.
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Tomorrow
Say No Without Burning the Bridge
The HEAR framework: a four-part way to decline a request that protects your time and strengthens the relationship instead of damaging it.
