Team performance and reducing risk: Adding Prospective Hindsight Punctuation (PHP) to the project manager's toolkit

Proactive project-risk identification and mitigation are essential project tasks that organizations sometimes struggle with and may even ignore. At project initiation, there is an idealized version of how the plan will unfold. Stakeholders may know of risks but not voice their concerns to avoid being labelled a negative influence. Risks that could have been easily identifiable and mitigated may later cause poor team performance and even complete project failure. The purpose of this Signature Project was to integrate the two concepts of prospective hindsight and punctuated equilibrium as a unique approach to project-risk management. The goal was to create a set of integrated tools that can be easily administered by a project manager while also developing a starting point for future research efforts. This study extended the value of the prospective hindsight driven premortem meeting by creating a replica "midmortem" meeting that is delivered at the temporal midpoint of a project. Executive MBA students (N=14) provided feedback on the concepts and their experiences with them. The proposed Prospective Hindsight Punctuation (PHP) framework is a practical, common-sense approach to identify and mitigate project risk. The findings from this study suggest its scalable and modular components have benefits beyond risk management. The premortem meeting may be used as a team-building exercise during project initiation while the midmortem meeting may provide additional value as a productivity management mechanism during the project's midpoint transition. Research participants identified the length of the project and leadership support among the potential factors that may influence adoption and effectiveness. The PHP framework's broader dissemination and application hold significant promise for individuals, consulting practices, and organizations seeking to improve their success in delivering projects and managing team development.