
Setting the stage with practical examples of risks taken in real life
For effective risk management, focus should be on risks and not issues and problems.
Establish a list of risk sources associated with various aspects of requirements like scope, unclear, incomplete and so on.
Risks associated with design are identified (example, functionality, safety, security etc)
Risks related to product (business plan, infrastructure, service availability etc) are identified
Guidelines and rating for probability of occurrence and impact are established
Five strategies for managing risks are defined (macro level pointers)
Identify risks from risks sources and also document them formally so that they are clear, consistent, correct, measurable and so on.
Evaluate each of the risk for the ratings of probability of occurrence and impact.
Also arrive at Risk Priority Number (RPN) and arrange the risks in the descending order of RPN
Top most risks will be managed based on a criteria set
For each of the risk that is prioritized, a strategy is applied and an action plan (consisting of one or more action items) is charted out
Track risk management plan with ownership, completion date and status
Frequency of tracking is established and followed at project, program and organization level
Re-evaluation of risks after action plan is implemented
Contingency plans for highly rated risks
Brainstorming and DAR (Decision Analysis and Resolution) for NOT straight forward actionable risks
Risks are there at all levels. Project risks gets a particular focus here.
Understanding the related terms like issue and problem helps to focus on better risk management
A. Lot of importance is given to prepare for risk management:
1. Identify risks sources related to requirements, design, product, services, government norms and so on
2. Setup guidelines and ratings for evaluating risks
3. Formulate strategies (macro pointers) to manage risks
B. With this strong preparation, we can easily identify risks and also write them as formal risk statements
C. When more number of risks are identified, prioritization is required by evaluating ratings for each of the risk related to probability of occurrence and impact. Calculate RPN - Risk Priority Number and arrange the risks in the descending order of RPN
D. As per the prioritized risks, risks are mitigated using various risk strategies at macro level and action plans at micro level
E. Risk management is sustained using:
a. Tracking of risks at project, program and org level
b. at established frequency for tracking
c. with ownership, date of completion and status assigned to each of the risk
d. after the action plan is implemented, the risk is re-evaluated and prioritized again
e. this practice makes it a dynamic risk management
f. some of the risks need contingency plans also
g. few risks can be mitigated straight away. Brainstorming and Decision Analysis and Resolution (DAR) have to be used for finding the root cause of the risk occurrence and come up with solutions / action plans