My feeling is that risk management isn't really done on a regular basis, except maybe for large projects or mature organizations, and that a majority of projects don't do risk management. But I don't know if this thinking is really true or not. Are there any thoughts on this board on this statement? Saving Changes...
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Hi
I do regular risk management but it might be because I also estimate the proximity of the risks. Please find a link to an article on how to integrate risk into the project below
Michael WellesManaging Director| EdWel Project and Risk Management TrainingChicago, Il, United States
Anon, I think your assessment is accurate. Most organizations and projects do a poor job of project risk management . Although they may lack sophistication on the operational side, companies do a very solid job on the credit/finance side.
Thank you Michael and Hans. I've done informal polls from colleagues and peers to come up with this opinion, and I am hoping people in the forum will validate this. My impression is that PMs perceive risk management may be too time consuming to really perform. Saving Changes...
Peter WrightProgramme Manager| BAE SystemsSouthport, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Michael has made the point well, businesses are driven to focus on their Financial risks and therefore these are managed, not always formally, the most rigorously.
Small to Medium companies will only really start undertaking Risk management as they grow their technical / operational teams that have this knowledge and the time to do it. Too many small - medium companies remain reactive to their risks costing them much in lost time.
I find the reason most PM's end up doing a poor job for project risk management is down to the additional quantiy of taks / non-pm tasks that are put upon them, as many other personnel in the business are having the same applied. This is especially so in the current financial climate where every penny is squeezed out of the staff time.
I therefore find it to be a top down issue not a project management issues, I find PM's and PMO's want to do a good job especially with regards to risk, as they know it will save them time later. But the management / corporation do not instill this with scalable processes for the business downwards.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks Peter for your insight. I agree that there are a lot of extra things given for PMs to do, which pushes risk mgmt down the list, especially in these times. The irony is when management doesn't promote risk management, they aren't opening the door to project cost containment and the benefits of managing risk. As a segue, does anyone have ROI as it relates to performing risk management?
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1 reply by Jeannette Simmons
Apr 28, 2018 12:53 PM
Jeannette Simmons
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Did you every get an ROI request answered, if so may you share as I would like to get information on the same.
Thank you.
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Jeff DahlProject Leader| Edward JonesMaryland Heights, Mo, United States
What we try to do on a live project is to review risks at each milestone. We review those that we missed that had an impact on the milestone under review as well as looking forward at what risks might come up for the next milestone and review our mitigation / prevention plans.
We also update risks at thsi time, again pre and post milestone.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I find that even if an organisation does not enforce risk management this is something that a PM should do for themselves.
I have found smaller organisations to have risk registers which the PM will refer to and track if they see fit. These are reviewed and managed on an adhoc basis but sometimes have been ignored due to the amount of time it consumes.
I have found some of the larger organisations to enforce the use of risk registers and expect that these are reviewed on a weekly basis which I think is good practice. Also, I have seen use of analysis software to ensure each project phase has a calculated percentage for all the risks. This percentage can then be used to give a figure of funds which can be drawn upon in a worst case scenario.
I believe it really depends on the company and also sometimes depends on the PM too. Saving Changes...
Ketan KarkhanisKetan A Karkhanis| CiscoSunnyvale, Ca, United States
My experience has been that whenever you think of Risk management as a separate activity, it is done merely to comply with the "Project management processes" or to Cover your ass ( Sorry !!!)
Risk management should not be a "thing you do" , but it needs to be integrated with everything you do.
Whatever process, template you follow, it is not only a PM task but needs to be at all levels of the team.
Some tips(behavioral aspects) which I follow (note I am assuming you have a "formal process", we all know that having a good process does not mean a good outcome)
1) Every activity needs to have a risk component. E.g If a developer gives me an estimate he also needs to give me his assessment of risks (qualitative and quantitative).
If you identify a risk you are accountable to providing a mitigation plan
2) Start every meeting by reviewing risks first
3) Make team members accountable for reporting on the evolving nature of the risks they have identified
4) Give your guys the political cover they need so that they do not start identifying stupid risks just to ensure they do not get screwed
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Sameer MitterWorcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Hi Ketan
Could you please tell me in more detail how would you do this:
4) Give your guys the political cover they need so that they do not start identifying stupid risks just to ensure they do not get screwed Saving Changes...
Sameer MitterWorcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Although it depends upon the industry you guys do projects in. I follow the Prince 2 model, so every time I add an issue I update the Risk Log as well. And I keep an eye on the risk & make the plan to mitigate it after reviewing them on regular basis. Saving Changes...
