Introduction
The successful implementation of a project is widely dependent on the risk management. A poorly planned project may result in loss of resources and can even lead to quitting of some of the members. Project managers need to do risk planning in order to identify potential problems that might hinder the success of your project.
They should also evaluate the probability of a problem arising and the actions that should be taken to diminish the risks that cannot be avoided and avert those that can be avoided. Risk is all that can arise and alter the results of the project.
Research issues
Risk is uncertain and should be handled carefully when planning your project. One of the options used to tackle the risk is to avert it. The other way is to mitigate risk taking an action that will make the risk do minimal damage to your project.
Also the risk can be transferred to another party. A good way of handling is to buy insurance. Lastly you can accept the risk.
The other thing is for the project manager to come up with a specific plan on how to handle the risk. This outlines how the risk will be assessed, who will work on this problem and the frequency of doing it. The plan should put the risks under various categories.
The plan should also describe the probability of the risk occurring since some risks have a high probability of occurrence than others (Royer, 2001, p. 45). It should also evaluate the effects of the risk to the project and classify them on a scale from minimal to severe.
For big projects a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) should be used to come up with a risk management plan. It is a very effective way to tackle the risks.
After categorizing the risks, one more important thing is to identify the risks. The best way is to involve the team members to help you identify possible risks. One of the best ways to identify risks is brainstorming by the project team.
According to Royer (2001), the facilitator of a brainstorming session should lead the team members to turn their ideas into a list of risks. The other way to identify risks is through interviews. This can be done to other members of the organization or experts (Royer, 2001, p. 25).
The Delphi technique is used to get experts’ opinions where they are gathered into a room and then asked questions. The other way to identify risks is to use of the root cause identification. This involves analyzing the risk and figuring out its main causes. Other ways include use of SWOT analysis and document reviews.
The last thing in project risk management is to put all the risks in a risk register. This involves a table with columns. The first column indicates the risk; the second column lists the possible reactions to the risk while the third column lists the sources of the risk.
This helps the project manager to see a clear picture of the risks involved. The final thing is to rank your risk (William, 2006, p. 56). The risk with the greatest effect is to be handled first. Research can be conducted to determine the most efficient way to register risks.
Project risk management is very essential in project management and it should be done carefully. Project managers should critically analyze the risks to ensure the projects are completed successfully.
References
Royer, P. S. 2001. Project risk management: a proactive approach. Expert Publishers, Chicago.
William, S. 2006. Risk management is projects. Frontier Publishers, New York.