Are You Tired of Missing Project Risks? 3 Ways to Stop It

    1=Initiation, 2=Planning, 4=Control

  •  Minute Read

I have had the privilege of managing three Project Management Offices (PMOs), composed of several project managers. The best project managers were the ones who had a habit of identifying and managing risks. Let's look at three ways you can improve your risk identification and reduce major misses. 

frustrated project manager

Wise project managers know that there are unknown risks lurking in every corner. Each new phase of a project gives rise to new risks, some significant, some not. Furthermore, as new stakeholders enter the scene, new interests and concerns can cause our projects to get off track.

Three Ways to Stop Missing Top Project Risks

There are several ways to identify risks such as brainstorming, cause and effect diagrams, assumption analysis, nominal group techniqueSWOT analysis, and affinity diagrams. Allow me to share three of my favorites.

1. Early Stakeholder Interviews

Project managers who fail to identify their risks early in their projects lose leverage to impact their projects positively. Why? Identifying risk early gives you more time for risk responses, and these timely responses are often less costly than later ones.

Work with your project sponsors to identify stakeholders with high power and high interest as you initiate your projects. Then schedule an interview with each stakeholder. Ask: “What are your greatest concerns going into this project?” This simple question starts the ball rolling in identifying high-level risks.

“Knowing our risks provides opportunities to manage and improve our chances of success.” –Roger VanScoy

2. Risk Checklist

See if your organization has a list of the most common risks. If not, you may be able to find a checklist through other companies in your industry. Can’t find a list? Create one yourself.

Checklists make risk identification much easier. Project managers can walk through the list and ask team members and other stakeholders which risks are significant for your project. This process minimizes the chance of overlooking risks.

One word of warning though—no checklist contains all the risks. Checklists should be used with other risk identification techniques.

3. Risk Identification Workshop

Another helpful method is the risk identification workshop. Invite appropriate individuals and groups to the workshop with the aim of performing the first risk identification exercise. In this workshop, share key project inputs such as the following:

  • The Project Charter
  • Stakeholder register
  • Business Case
  • Statement of Work
  • Agreements
  • Organizational Process Assets

Plan the workshop and determine which risk identification techniques you will use. I commonly use a couple of the following techniques:

  • Brainstorming
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Nominal Group Technique
  • Checklists
  • Affinity diagrams

If you are having difficulty in scheduling the workshop due to schedule conflicts, you may wish to consider the Delphi technique.

Putting It into Action

Now you know why it’s important to start identifying risks early, and you have three great methods to go about it, among others. For your next project, develop your risk management plan; include the risk identification techniques you plan to use. Then proactively identify risks throughout the course of your project.

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