Agile Risk Management: Running the Games (Part 1)

Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.

  Agile   Business Case   Risk Management   Scrum   Strategy   Talent Management  

This is the third part in a series on agile risk management; Part 1 looked at the opportunities agile methods offer for proactive risk management, while Part 2 examined the benefits of engaging the whole team in risk management through collaborative games and cautioned us about groupthink. This article walks through those games and explains how to engage a team in the first three of the six risk management steps.

The PMI risk management lifecycle comprises of:

1. Plan Risk Management
2. Identify Risks
3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
5. Plan Risk Responses
6. Control Risks

These phases can be addressed collaboratively via the following team exercises:

• Plan Your Trip (Plan Risk Management)
  • 4Cs: Consider the Costs, Consequences, Context and Choices
  • Are we buying a Coffee, Couch, Car or a Condo? How much rigor is appropriate and what is the best approach?
  • Deposits and Bank Fees – understanding features and risks 

• Find Friends and Foes (Risk and Opportunity Identification)
  • Doomsday clock
  • Karma-day
  • Other risk identification forms (risk profiles, project risk lists, retrospectives, user story analysis, Waltzing with Bears - Top 5-10 for software)

• Post Your Ad (Qualitative Risk Analysis)
  …

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