In this article we are going to look at risk management. This is a critical project activity, but it doesn't usually receive the required level of attention. This can lead to severe issues, including project failure.

Risk management is covered in some methodologies, but the focus is usually on preparing and maintaining a risk log. On many projects risk management consists of a weekly or monthly review of the log with little evidence of real risk management between the meetings. Proactive and ongoing risk management is essential in order to deliver a quality project on time and on budget. 

The risk management strategy must be commensurate with the complexity, business criticality and timescale of the project.

Some factors to consider when deciding the risk management approach:

• Is the project a small development for a single department that will be completed by one Agile team?
• At the other extreme is a major ERP implementation that will take years and includes:
• Building a new infrastructure.
• New integrations.
• Updated data mapping.
• Data migration.
• New security infrastructure.
• Building and integrating with a new data lake and data warehouse.
• Updating existing reports and developing new ones.
• Major cultural changes that include elimination of manual processes. 

Of course, these two scenarios will have vastly different risk management requirements regardless of the approach and methodology used. 

It is perfectly okay to use Agile, Waterfall, PRINCE2 Agile or any other methodology and supplement it as required in order to manage risks effectively. Please don’t listen to any methodology ‘purist’ that say methodologies can’t be enhanced. Part of being an excellent project manager is knowing when you need to enhance a methodology.

In addition, regardless of methodology, you will need an efficient and effective way to convey risks to the stakeholders. Ensure that the Project Board understands all the risks you are managing.

Ownership of the change and risk management must be agreed.

• If third parties are working on a project, ensure that risk sharing and accountability are defined clearly in the contracts.

Risk management should be based on objective criteria. Without this, opinions of the level of risk will vary widely.

Cutover Risk Management

Risk management is critical throughout the project and will come into sharp focus as cutover approaches.

• The Pathway Project Management Toolkit™ includes a spreadsheet with typical risk criteria. It is based on yes or no answers with a risk weighting.
• The example in the training course focuses on readiness for cutover, but the principles are the same for managing risks at any point in the project lifecycle.
• It is helpful to create this spreadsheet at the beginning of the project and use it to demonstrate the reduction in risk (assuming things are going to plan) as you approach cutover. This is a simple, efficient and effective tool to assist with risk management.