Scale Risk to Each Project

Known globally as The Risk Doctor, David has been working in risk management for about 30 years. He has worked in 48 countries on every continent except the Antarctic (too cold!), with clients in most industries.

  Risk Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Projects are not equally risky, and your risk management process should be scaleable to match the level of risk challenge faced by each. How? Here are the elements of a typical risk management process that can be readily scaled to fit the needs of a range of projects.

Different projects are exposed to different levels of risk, so the project risk management process must be scaleable to meet the varying degrees of risk challenge. While we can apply a common risk process to any project, that process can be implemented at different levels, from a few simple informal steps to a fully rigorous and integrated process.

A typical risk process should include the following eight steps:

1. Risk Process Initiation: Define the scope, objectives and parameters of the risk process.
2. Risk Identification: Identify all currently knowable risks, including both threats and opportunities.
3. Risk Assessment: Evaluate key characteristics of individual risks, prioritise them for further action, and find any patterns of risk exposure. Optionally use quantitative techniques to evaluate the combined effect of risks on the project outcome.
4. Risk Response Planning: Determine appropriate response strategies and actions for each risk.
5. Risk Response Implementation: Implement agreed actions, determine whether they are working, and identify any secondary risks.
6. Risk …

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