It is not easy running your own business, your own project or a team.  You need to take time to consider the factors that could get in your way.  This way you are prepared and can work through them should they arise.  The great thing about anticipating roadblocks in advance is you may even find a way to make sure they never crop up.

Roadblocks can be anywhere.  They can stop progress for individuals, companies and even teams.  The types of roadblocks that you encounter can be planned for it you take a few minutes to prepare for them while you are in the planning stage of your project.   You will need to run through many ‘what –if’ scenarios. 

Here are some ‘what-ifs’ to ask yourself when you are creating your plan:

1.       What if I can’t finish the job?  Who else can I ask?

2.       What if I have the wrong players on my team? How can I redistribute the work?

3.       What if the budget does not allow for all the marketing? Which items are priorities for our message?

4.       What if the deadline gets moved? How do I handle the next steps?

5.       What if the direction is wrong? How do I shift back?

6.       What if the project derails? What mechanisms can I put in place to stay on track?

7.       What if this is a great success?

8.       What if this project changes my career?

9.       What if this project leads to new clients?

10.   What if no one wants to listen to me? How do I influence the team to get the job done?

For those flying solo out there, change the questions to apply to yourself.  Sometimes we derail ourselves, we are afraid of the success as well as the failure and we can have a difficult time setting our own priorities.

When you take time to work through the ‘what-ifs’ of your project, or task, you will find that you can manage the roadblocks better because you have already worked through them once.  Take some time right now to go through the 10 ‘what-ifs’ on your next project.  You may end up adding a few to the list yourself.