This course on Driving Commitment to Team Decisions will empower you to engage your team to commit to the collective mission. The first critical step is to involve team members in the decision-making process. Let's get started!

A project pre-mortem is a proactive strategy that can be used to engage the team in decision-making before the project begins. This involves having the team imagine the failure of a project upfront to identify potential pitfalls. Unlike a post-mortem, which looks at what went wrong after the fact, a pre-mortem anticipates issues before they happen. This approach fosters open dialogue and allows the team to share their concerns early on. This leads to a productive conversation where risks can be proactively managed through decisions.

• Jake: Let's assume this project has failed. What could have gone wrong, and how can we address it now?
• Victoria: I think one of the major risks could be the software’s compatibility with old systems.
• Jake: Great point. How can we mitigate that risk from the start?

During the pre-mortem, it's crucial to identify all possible points of failure. This means creating a safe space for team members to voice concerns without fear of criticism. Encourage everyone to speak up, even those who are usually quiet. For example, you can ask: "What are some of the risks we haven't considered yet?" Drawing quieter team members into the conversation can unearth unique insights and foster inclusiveness. Given the hypothetical nature of the discussion, team members often feel more comfortable sharing their ideas to inform decisions.

Once potential risks are identified, the next step is for the team to make decisions on prioritizing the risks. Not all risks carry the same weight or likelihood. Engage the team in evaluating which risks are most critical to address. Open-ended questions like "Which of these risks could have the biggest impact on our project, and why?" can help. This ensures that the team’s focus is on mitigating the most significant risks, fostering a shared sense of responsibility and commitment to the project's success.

In the upcoming role-play sessions, you'll have the opportunity to practice running a project pre-mortem, identifying potential failure points, and prioritizing risks with your teammates' input.