Risk management gets a lot of fanfare, but many project managers fail to cash in on the benefits. Here are some simple and practical project risk management principles that can help you get better results.
Five Things to Start in Risk Management
1. Start risk management early in your projects.
2. Start educating your team members on how to integrate risk management into other project management processes such as Schedule Management and Quality Management.
3. Start discussing the most significant risks each time you meet.
4. Start defining your Risk Management Plan during your Planning Process.
5. Start using a Risk Register to capture your risks.
“The first step in the risk management process is to acknowledge the reality of risk. Denial is a common tactic that substitutes deliberate ignorance for thoughtful planning.” —Charles Tremper
Five Things to Stop in Risk Management
1. Stop making risk management overly complex for smaller projects. Scale your risk management practices to fit the size and complexity of your project.
2. Stop making risk management a big deal early in your project and then forgetting about it later.
3. Stop thinking of risks as only threats. You may be missing some wonderful opportunities to improve your schedule, cost, and quality.
4. Stop spending time and responding to insignificant risks.
5. Stop owning all the risks. Assign appropriate risk owners.