Risk Management
Several techniques are available that you can employ to identify risks to your projects. Some project managers rely on regular team meetings, brainstorming sessions, reviews with stakeholders or experience from similar projects.
Risks may result from high-level support, funding, resources, skills, hidden agendas and planning related issues.
Once you have identified your risks, write them down in a risk log. The log is used to monitor and track your risks. Make your risk log visible to the project stakeholders so they are able to see risks that concern them being addressed. They may flag new risks you haven't identified.
The risk log should evolve over time with potential risks removed and new ones added as the project progresses.
Risk Evaluation
Once you have filled out your risk log, you need to evaluate your risks. One of the most effective ways is to grade the risks on two levels, likelihood and severity. Assign a value to both the likelihood and severity of high, medium or low. It follows that you should concentrate your efforts on the high / high and high / medium risks. You should look at the financial implication of each risk as an additional factor.
Corrective Actions
Once you understand where your risks are coming from and which you should address first, you must take corrective actions. Try to think of two actions for each risk. Document the actions (in you risk log) you intend to take to minimise the impact from each risk.
Risk Control
Finally, you must monitor and control your risks. Risk control involves keeping a risk management plan, a record of risks handled, a description of your proposed corrective actions, costs involved and a risk escalation plan for when problems occur. Include information about the risks in your progress reports. This keeps them visible and prevents any nasty shocks during the project.
Summary
To summaries, identify your risks, grade them and decide what corrective actions you will take should the worst happen. Give most attention to the risks with a high likelihood and high / medium severity rating. Create an action plan to minimise the impact of these risks. Monitor and control your risks.
At the end of the project look back at the risks and record any lessons learned in your Project Closure report.
Nobody likes to think about what may go wrong in a project, especially early on, but to overlook risk management means that you chance an unnecessary project failure.
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Project Management - Risk Management Popular Risk Management Books |