Don’t Wait for the Fire - Check for Smoke

Authored By Linnea Mulholland

There’s a specific flavor of project pain that only hits once you realize the disaster was baked in from the beginning. Maybe the timeline was unrealistic. Maybe the decision-maker was missing in action. Perhaps the project scope was just a wishlist with a logo. You didn’t break it - it was already broken. You just hadn’t learned how to read the signs yet.

I have. And in consulting and delivery roles alike, I’ve come to treat those early gut-check moments as data points. Because the sooner you spot a red flag, the more options you have to handle it. This post shares the patterns I now watch for before kickoff—and how I raise them without blowing up the deal or spooking the client.

Let me set the scene: I once joined a project six weeks behind schedule and already $30K over budget - before a single integration had been tested. From the outside, it looked like things had just gone off the rails. However, upon reviewing the original scope and project assumptions during onboarding, it became clear: the red flags had been present all along. No one had called them out early enough.

That experience sharpened my eye for trouble. Now, I read every proposal, kickoff deck, and scope document with a detective’s lens - looking for the gaps that turn into delays, the missing roles that create chaos, and the timelines that require magic instead of math.

1. The Disappearing Decision-Maker

When there's no clear owner, decisions get delayed and work stalls. Early signs include: “They’ll join later,” “It’s a group decision,” or someone who’s technically responsible, but never shows up.

I once worked with a client whose project manager didn’t check email, didn’t join calls, didn’t respond to Slack, and didn’t answer their phone. Every blocker went unresolved until someone finally picked up the pieces.

Now, I ask directly:

•  Who is empowered to say yes or no?
•  Who will approve the scope, sign off on changes, or call go/no-go?

If that person isn’t clearly named, I flag it immediately, because we can’t plan around a vacuum.

2. The Timeline That Starts Yesterday

Urgency is fine. Panic isn’t.

Some teams treat enterprise-scale projects like plug-and-play modules. If I hear, “We’d like this integrated by next month,” I dig in. Was the discovery made? What systems are changing? What people are available?

I don’t just say, “This won’t work.” I walk stakeholders through the real path to delivery, including technical discovery, integration builds, QA, enablement, and support planning. Then I ask where they’d like to cut corners. Spoiler: they usually don’t.

If I’ve got resource velocity data or average ticket throughput, I use it. A timeline lands better when it’s grounded in evidence, not opinion.

Suppose it was sold without delivery team input (a whole separate red flag). In that case, I work with internal leads to pare down to the critical path, flag internal concerns, and guide steerco toward an achievable solution.

3. The Scope That Solves Everything

If a scope doc reads like a wishlist with no priorities, I know we’re headed for change orders, misalignment, and burnout.

Common flags:

•  Vague goals (“experience improvements”)
•  Conflicting KPIs (“increase AOV,” “reduce returns,” and “launch loyalty”)
•  Lack of success criteria (“make it more seamless”)

My move: host a quick “what’s in vs. out” session before kickoff. I ask what would make this project successful - then what could wait. One client realized on the spot that their “phase one” had accidentally swallowed phases two and three. We got it back under control before anyone burned out.

I also look at how detailed the scope assumptions are. Are dates, dependencies, or data quality considerations included? Are we pretending we already know everything, or leaving room for discovery?

4. The Budget With No Fat

Tight budgets are normal. Budgets with no buffer? Dangerous.

If every hour is already accounted for, there’s no flex. That’s a problem on complex technical projects, where unexpected challenges always emerge. It also limits capacity for risk mitigation, team ramp-up, or customer learning curves.

In agency delivery, I’ve joined projects where the margin was already blown and expectations were still rising. That’s a recipe for broken trust.

Now, I ask:

•  Where’s the buffer?
•  If we exceed X, what gets cut?
•  Are we willing to revisit this scope mid-flight?

Framing this as risk planning (not pessimism) usually lands well. Especially if I’ve got data: how often do similar projects hit snags? How many unknowns are we assuming will “just work”?

5. The Ops Gap

Here’s a question I ask that almost no one expects: Who owns this once we’re live?

Clients often plan up to go-live and then stop. When I hear “we’ll figure out support later” or “the team will absorb it,” I start poking around. Do they have the capacity? Are they being trained? Will they inherit documentation, admin access, and a clear escalation path?

In one project, we successfully launched a major integration, only to discover that the post-launch team hadn’t been invited to planning meetings. Support suffered, and so did the client relationship.

Now, I raise the flag early:

•  Who owns this long-term?
•  How are we supporting their ramp-up?
•  What does a clean handoff look like?

Even if no one asked for a governance model, I often sketch one out. It helps everyone know who’s on the hook when the build team rolls off. And it reinforces one of the most important lessons I’ve learned: a successful go-live means nothing if no one’s ready to own it.

Bonus: The Energy Audit

Some red flags don’t show up in scope docs or slide decks. They show up in people’s energy.

When stakeholders avoid meetings, delay deliverables, or act skittish about decisions, I take note. It’s often a sign of deeper misalignment, such as unclear ownership, unacknowledged risk, or tension between sales promises and the actual scope.

I’ve walked into projects where the energy was tense from the very beginning. Sales had oversold, and no one quite knew how to say, “This isn’t what we thought we signed up for.”

If the team feels off, I:

•  Interview stakeholders to understand concerns
•  Clarify ownership and timelines
•  Surface competing narratives and resolve gaps

If misalignment is widespread, I host a workshop to unify vision. If it’s isolated, I handle it through individual conversations. Either way, the earlier you spot energy red flags, the easier they are to address.

One trick I use? Asking each stakeholder: "What does success look like to you?" The answers usually reveal hidden assumptions or unspoken goals. That’s where alignment starts.

What To Do With a Red Flag

Spotting a red flag is only the first step. Here’s how I turn early concerns into action:

•  Escalate internally first. Bring your delivery team and leadership in before raising client alarms. Chances are, someone else has context—or is seeing the same thing.
•  Use data to make your case. Pull average ticket velocities, past project timelines, or resource utilization data to back your position.
•  Offer phased alternatives. Instead of saying “No,” propose: "What if we delivered X now and saved Y for phase two?"
•  Prep for workarounds. Not all flags get resolved. Sometimes you build contingencies and communicate the trade-offs. It’s not ideal, but it maintains trust.

Red flags don’t always mean the project is doomed. However, they always imply that someone needs to ask better questions.

Final Thoughts

Raising red flags early isn’t about being negative. It’s about being prepared.

Some clients thank you. Some ignore you. But you’ll sleep better knowing you asked the hard questions before the chaos starts.

Whether I’m sanity-checking a project proposal, reviewing a kickoff deck, or joining mid-flight, my approach is the same: listen closely, look for patterns, and trust your gut. Red flags aren’t always show-stoppers. But they’re always invitations to get curious - and get ahead of what could go wrong.

I don’t aim to stop projects - I aim to set them up to succeed. And that starts by seeing clearly from day one.

TL;DR: If a project feels off before it begins, it probably is. Don’t wait for the chaos to prove you right. Ask better questions and build a sturdier plan.

Contributor Bio

Linnea is a PMP-certified project manager and systems thinker who specializes in making complex delivery work feel less chaotic for clients, teams, and the people caught in between. She’s known for making even the gnarliest projects feel manageable, often stepping in midstream to stabilize delivery, rebuild trust, or sort out what’s going on. She brings a calm presence, sharp instincts, and a strong bias toward clarity, even when the path forward is murky. Outside of work, she’s walking her Labrador puppy, baking something delicious, or planning her next trip.

Connect on LinkedIn: Linnea Mulholland