Every Project Has Risks - By: Alex LeBlanc

Read the most utilized project methodologies and best practices and undoubtedly you will read a chapter or three on managing risk effectively in a project. It goes without saying that risk management is without a doubt one of the most critical and fundamental elements of project management. Yet, too often it never happens or if it does, it falls short of the intent.

How many times have you worked on a project where a beautiful project plan and schedule has been laid out, the team is in place and ready to go, budget is assigned with cash ready to be spent and yet not one single risk has been identified / anticipated to occur? This is because the powers that be have 100% confidence and know without a shadow of a doubt that the project is destined for success and nothing could ever go wrong or jeopardize its path to completion. That sounds, sketchy.

Even if your organization doesn't fully understand or actively perform risk management on projects, there are simple steps that can be taken to get a framework in place to help support and mitigate these risks.

An easy way to start introducing risk management is to do so at the beginning of every project, using a pre-defined risk tracking tool. There are many templates available online, as well as project management tools, some which provide support for implementing risk management techniques.

If you've already made the leap to evolve your practice toward social project management, look for a social project management application which can provide the foundational project management tools you need along with collaboration environments that ensure your team is always aware of issues, risks and actions.

When it comes to actively managing risks, you need to stay on top of a few things. Identify some project risks before the project even starts. Think of all the possible scenarios which may lead to a direct or indirect impact to the project and risk its success to be delivered.

Understand both the likelihood of the risk occurring as well as the severity of the impact to your project if the risk happens. For example, do have one key resource without whom you couldn't complete your project? Is there any risk that this resource could become unavailable to your project, for any reason? What's the likelihood that this risk will actually occur? Perhaps it's low probability. The resource is happy as a clam, and unlikely to leave for other pursuits; they're physically healthy and have a consistent "no sick time" track record; and so on. Yet, if this low probability risk did in fact occur, what is the impact to you? Is it a minor speed bump or a devastating road block?

Now that you understand the nature, probability, and severity of the risk, you can begin to manage it. Managing risks does not equate to making them go away. Begin by considering and identifying the mitigating actions that are available to you to reduce your risk exposure. For every risk, be honest and realistic on the possibility of it occurring and if it did, what the impact would be (common scale would be high, medium, low).

Arguably three of the most important parts in risk management are communication, accountability and mitigation. For every risk, identify who should most appropriately own and manage that risk. Next is to ensure they are aware that it is theirs to manage and establish a mitigation strategy & plan to be ready in the event issues on the project bring that risk to life. The key here is regular communication and review from the risk owner and the project manager to ensure things are addressed in a timely fashion and not sitting until the next status meeting 3 weeks down the road.

Regardless if the project is to build a new office building or develop a new piece of software or perform a national healthcare feasibility study; there are common risks to any project. To help in developing a foundational risk management approach, the following are 4 key risks to consider at the beginning of all your projects:

1. Competing Projects: For every project there are 5 others. Look around to determine if your project will be competing for priority.

2. Project Team Conflicts: Chances are you are depending on people that have other operational or project commitments. Furthermore, they have personal lives, so be sure to factor in what will happen when vacations and out of office activities take place.

3. Budget / Financing: Prepare for the worst and determine the game plan if money runs out or additional funds are required.

4. Schedule Delays: A schedule or work breakdown structure is a must at the onset of the project. However, timelines and effort are never 100%. Thus, work in some buffer time and plan for it being used and then some. Ask yourself what would you do if the schedule slips?

In the end, there are thousands of risks that could turn your project sideways. The key is making sure to identify them and most importantly, manage them.

About the Author

Alex LeBlanc is an experienced project manager, and one of the co-founders of Upstart Industries, creator of Vantage: The Social Approach to Project Management. A 30 day free trial of Vantage is currently available. Your free trial includes 10 free user accounts to share, so give it a try and get social with your projects today.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Alex-LeBlanc/185259

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