Decomposition for Better Risk Identification

Andrea Brockmeier is the Director of Project Management at Watermark Learning. She has 20+ years of experience in project management practice and training.

  Risk Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Identifying project risks is a struggle for even seasoned project professionals. As part of a risk breakdown structure, decomposition is an exercise that can help you and your team members identify realistic potential events that could impact the project.

I find that people often struggle with identifying risks. When you ask team members about the risks they are concerned about, even with all their knowledge and expertise, it’s not always easy for them to think concretely about specific events that can impact the project. Often, they don’t get much beyond a 50,000-foot view of catastrophic events far out of proportion to the project.

“The building burns down” is one favorite example of suggestions I’ve heard when facilitating risk identification. Or I remember training HR folks at a big bank who worked on projects dealing with bank staffing, hiring, compliance, etc., and they really never got much beyond the risk of bank robberies. Hmmm. What about project risks related to project staff resources, changing compliance requirements, or maybe teller software, I wondered. 

Team members and others involved in identifying risks need tools that help provide intellectual handles so they can get their feet a little more firmly planted on the ground as it relates to events that will impact their project. It’s the …

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