Client Delivery
Part of Project documentation and decisions
Recording assumptions before a milestone review
Identify the unconfirmed conditions behind a milestone decision, assign checks and show reviewers the effect of uncertainty.
Before a milestone review, record the unconfirmed conditions the next decision depends on. For each material assumption, state what is treated as true, what changes if it is false, who will check it and when the answer is needed. Present unresolved assumptions as uncertainty, not established facts.
Start with the milestone decision
Identify what the review may authorise: acceptance of a deliverable, release of the next work package or continued commitment to a plan. Ask which conditions that decision depends on. Focus on assumptions that could change the decision or the work after it.
For example, a team may plan to start testing after a review while awaiting evidence that supplier samples are compatible. A scheduled test date does not establish compatibility. The review record should show the missing evidence and the effect if the samples arrive late or fail the check.
Keep a compact record
Field / What to record
- Assumption
- A specific condition that can be checked
- Basis
- Why the team currently considers it plausible
- Consequence
- The decision or work affected if it is false
- Check owner
- Who will obtain or assess evidence
- Check point
- When the answer is needed
- State
- Unchecked, supported, disproved or no longer relevant
These are suggested fields. Replace vague entries such as “supplier will be fine” with the expected input and the evidence needed to assess it. Time passing without challenge is not confirmation.
Review the evidence before the meeting
Ask owners to update material entries. A verified condition can become part of the factual basis for the decision. An unresolved condition stays visible with a next check. A disproved condition calls for an impact assessment and, if agreed work must change, an authorised decision.
A possible future event with a material consequence may also need a risk record. If a problem has already occurred, record the present issue and affected work. Keep the earlier assumption as history without using it to conceal what is now known.
Before vs after a milestone review: handling assumptions
- Unresolved assumption
- Remains visible with next check; not treated as fact.
- Verified condition
- Becomes part of the factual basis for the decision.
- Disproved assumption
- Triggers impact assessment and potential change to work plan.
- Past issue now known
- Record current problem and affected work; retain earlier assumption only for history.
State the condition in the review outcome
For each material open assumption, show reviewers which decision it affects and what options remain. They may authorise a limited next step subject to a check, defer the decision or choose another approach. Record any condition attached to approval, who can confirm it and which work must wait.
After the review, update the assumption record and dependent tasks. Set a next check for each open item. The record is useful when it changes what the team knows or does, not when it merely grows before every meeting.
