What is Risk
In her very lucid lecture on Risk Management, Dr. Penny
Pullan provides a very apt definition of Risk, with an analogy where an archer
is preparing his bow to shoot an arrow at a target. She says that risk is the uncertainty
of the arrow hitting its target from the time of leaving the bow to the time of
reaching its target.
Therefore, Risk is the assessment of what can go wrong and by
how much it can go wrong. It is different from Issues, a difference that often
gets blurred in the heat of the moment. Issue is something that has ALREADY
gone wrong, while risk is something that CAN go wrong, but may or may not come
to pass.
Risk Management Process
The process of managing this uncertainty throughout the
lifetime of the project is called Risk Management. Most organizations feel that
creating a Risk Register at the start of a project defines Risk Management.
However, the Risk Register is just one part of Risk Management. Risk Management
is a continuous and repetitive process in which Risk assessment and evaluation
have to be performed at regular intervals throughout the duration of the
project.
Ownership
Project Managers often complain that they do not have the ability
to handle all the risks that they own, often due to lack of control and
authority in areas that they have no say in (like a competing priority of
shared resources etc.). This happens because in these situations the risk is
often not been owned by the right people. The risks in a project are supposed
to be owned by the stakeholders and not the Project Manager. Simply put, Risks are
owned by the people who need the project delivered.
Risk Facilitator
Dr. Pullan in her lecture describes the role of a Risk
Facilitator. A Risk Facilitator is a role responsible for ensuring that Risk
Management Process runs properly. A Risk Facilitator maintains the quality of
risks and challenges any ambiguities and brevity in the definition of risks. A
Risk Facilitator is not a full time occupation. However, anyone who is
identified for this role has to be someone with great listening ability,
ability to ask good questions, someone who can take action and has the
credibility for his opinions and recommendation to hold weight.
A Risk Facilitator needs to stay out of the working details
of the project. That is why it is no a good idea for a Project Manager to be
the Risk Facilitator as well for his projects. The Risk Facilitator is someone
who knows who to engage at what point during the project and he constantly
challenges the stakeholders to retain risk ownership instead of transferring it
off to the Project Manager.
A Risk Facilitator also ensures that the team remains engaged
in the Risk Management Process and does not run out of steam after the initial
push at the time of risk planning. All in all, the role of a Risk Facilitator is
essential to the success of the Risk Management Framework and consequently
essential to the success of the overall project delivery.
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