The ATOM process of managing risk in a project is comprised of several principles. Firstly, all risks should be identified and addressed by management. Risks should be classified and systematized according to potential harm. ATOM places special importance on the implementation of risk responses rather than their identification (Hillson & Simon, 2020). Therefore, the more managers can affect the quality of the organization, the higher is the chance for managing risks effectively
I believe that control is a much more important problem than the deficit of resources. It is one thing to possess all the necessary means for managing people in a project, and another to actually direct them and maintain the lack of errors and mistakes. It becomes especially relevant to large-scale projects, which are comprised of lesser ones. The ATOM generally views all projects as a single initiative, regardless of the size of the project.
Altogether, I think that using the ATOM is justified if management is able to efficiently control all spheres of the project. The lack of resources should not be an issue as large projects presuppose the abundance of people, tools, and finances. However, provided the absence of sufficient control, using the ATOM will bring more harm than good, as it uses the same methodology to all projects.
Response to Leroy’s Post
One of the expressed ideas is that the effectiveness of using ATOM correlates with the supervision needed for larger projects. This implies that the more control management has over a project, the more cost-effective ATOM becomes. Yet, it is also noted that project size and headcount are irrelevant for the ATOM methodology. However, it would be more precise to state that the number of people involved in a project does count. Whereas, in general, ATOM views every project as a single entity, it does allow analyzing larger projects as consisting of smaller ones (Hillson & Simon, 2020). Although ultimately, it comes down to managerial control and attention, the project size should not be discounted.
Reference
Hillson, D., & Simon, P. (2020). Practical project risk management: The ATOM methodology. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.