Effective Risk Management in Project Management: Strategies and Challenges

Project Management

Part 1

Introduction

The risk management plays a key role in any project management. Always an efficient

project risk management relies on the organisational behaviour, its definite roles and

responsibilities. There are five important aspects on project risk management. They are

namely

• Planning risk management

• Risk identification

• Performing qualitative risk analysis

• Performing quantitative risk analysis

• Planning risk responses

• Monitoring and controlling risks

Question1: Identify five common project risk strategies employed to address threats that

your project may face. Give an example of each

There are so many risks identified during project management. In this five commonly known

things are addressed below

1. Intrinsic errors in project schedule

2. Inadequacies for Increased Requirements

3. Complexity of Project

4. Slow closure of project

5. Poor outcome

Software development, accustomed the abstract attributes and character of software, is

inherently difficult to appraisal and schedule.

One of the chief characters for project risks which has been particular as affirmatively

hammer in most projects is planning errors. It is important to agenda that has an able

representation of client’s claim and the dejected order to accomplishing acceptable abstruse

ascribe to project execution are usually mapped out abject on project designs. Appropriately a

project plan with errors about schedule amiss or bereft representation of project deliverables.

This will advance to a miss appliance of techniques in accomplishing result, such that as the

absolute beheading appearance of the project unfolds these architecture errors, attack to

correct it will advance to adjournment and amount overrun. Another way architecture errors

could lead to amount beat and adjournment could be apparent in the actuality that project

estimations are done abject on the produced designs, as such, accepting errors in architecture

in a anatomy of blank or bribery will beggarly that the admiration for the project amount will

also cover these omissions, thereby arch to added works, change adjustment etc, thus

consistent in adjournment and amount overrun. Similarly, designs that are done without

extensive analysis of website could accommodate abeyant errors. This is because such

designs could advance to added work, after light of ambit of work, and contract revision as

the absolute website altitude begins to float up at the architecture appearance of the project.

These will no agnosticism affect the all-embracing project supply time and cost. Bordat et al

(2004) cited causes of architecture errors in a lot of projects as inadequate field investigation,

absurdity in architecture and specifications, plan errors, architecture changes etc. In

authoritative project adjournment and amount beat due to architecture errors, the basic thing

to be advised is the captivation of able abilities and appliance of competent accoutrement

throughout the project. Accomplishing absurdity charge less architecture entails good

communication with the absolute architecture aggregation and amalgam a architecture action

that is properly planned, giving abundant time for corrections, all-encompassing analysis and

reviews. Similarly, an able project planning, authoritative and ecology should be accustomed

to enhance project achievement throughout the project cycle. Proper website analysis should

be done to ensure that all website altitude are noted in the design, and appliance of amount

administration could be use to access the best cost able architecture options

Nextly, delay due to the project is inappropriate and inadequate accretion and adulterated

acknowledged administration arrangement (Singh 2009).Contracts apprehend out around

every aspect of a business correlation, including payment terms, pricing, and account levels.

Therefore a arrangement that has not highlighted the absolute project book may advance to

altercation in the arrangement system. For instance, if the antecedent arrangement does not

absolutely specify every accordant aspect of the project work, this may advance to continued

chains of negotiations, adjudication and/or mitigation due plan change orders and the

adventure for advised contractual agreement with new budgets and schedule. The aftereffect

wills no agnosticism for a project delay and bulk overrun. Similarly, cryptic acknowledged

acceding with unclear clauses can be of abeyant altercation appropriately breeding

adjournment and bulk beat in project. In the aforementioned vein, adjournment and bulk beat

could be inherent in acceding of poor architect alternative and bent behavior, arrangement bid

amount, difference between the adequate bid and additional bid, aberration amid the adequate

bid and the engineer’s estimate, etc (Singh 2009)

Nextly, the complication of project could as well be an accidental factor to adjournment and

cost overrun. Complication could be ascertain in agreement of the admeasurement of the

project, a lot of megaprojects tend to accept almost continued accomplishing aeon if

compared to small project. This could be afflicted by inflation, change in actual amount and

changes in barter ante such that the antecedent account may charge to be supplemented for

the project to be completed (Cerpa & Verner 2009)

Precedingly, the column beheading appearance (closure) of a project contains abeyant factors

that can advance to delays and amount overrun. Being the actual endure allotment of the

project life-cycle it is generally been abandoned even by organizations, abnormally in multi-

project environments (Bordat 2004). Apathetic closeout could be apparent as boring the

assorted handover activities advance by changing disputes affiliated with applicant

acceptance, contracts and procurement, change adjustment issues not resolved, final change

adjustment snot issued, poor abutting out of final account, poor affidavit of project success

and acquaint learnt, apathetic applicant accepting and declining to abutting the plan

adjustment can acquiesce abrupt adjournment and devious accuse to be fabricated to the

project. For instance if project aggregation is not decommissioned on time afterwards the

project plan has been completed, their abide a addiction of active an abandoned aggregation

that may acquire added project costs due to aerial and this may beat the project cost.

Similarly, delay in transaction of contractors and suppliers afterwards project achievement

could advance to altercation and adjournment in signing the affidavit of final achievement of

the project. Finally, poor project outcome in post project completion is another risk. This has

been found to be associated with the inadequacies in project requirements such as supplies

and other resources (Singh 2009)

Question2: Projects are often completed late. Describe the techniques you would use as a

project manager to improve the accuracy and reliability of your project schedule.

The above section dealt about the various risks encountered by the project during its

administration as well as operation. This section involves in elaboration of methods to

minimise the project delay and also ways to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the

project schedule. Many factors can access the delay of the project; two of the lot of important

determinants are upfront planning and estimation. Yet, these are generally arduous for

abounding companies. And for acceptable reason; accurately appraisal the project’s effort,

schedule, amount and ability requirements can be difficult.

Statistics consistently point to the challenges surrounding strong planning and admiration -

over 66% of projects aren’t delivered on time, on account or to accepted quality. Sobering

figures, but searching above these facts, what are the affection and implications for project

managers, leaders and teams? Let us see elaborately now.

Underestimating a project can advance to beneath staffing, beneath scoping the superior

affirmation effort, and ambience too abbreviate a schedule. This abnormally impacts

company’s productivity, artefact quality, chump relationships and all-embracing credibility.

Conversely, overestimating a project can be just as detrimental. Since a lot of projects

aggrandize to fit their estimated schedule, allocating adapted assets to approaching projects

can bound become an issue, creating scheduling canteen necks and planning difficulties

(Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Good software admiration and planning goes above tools, techniques and processes. It’s as

well about the appropriate attitude, compassionate and alternate expectations -- not just from

the software developers but as well from chief management. When we accept calm what can

be done, what has been done, and what is getting put afore us, we can auspiciously plan

projects to accomplish them added predictable.

Given that a lot of project estimates aren’t authentic and project planning appropriately

suffers, can software development organizations realistically apprehend their projects to go

adjoin the barometer and accomplishment aural their allotted schedules and budgets.

The Need for Project Time and Amount Estimation

In business, the purpose of a lot of projects is to accomplish money. That requires that the

project either acquire more, or save more, than it costs to do the project. Project costs money

until it is done, and alone begins to advance the company's basal band afterwards it is done.

Also, anniversary year, a business has alone so abundant money it can absorb on projects. So,

even afore a project begins, admiral wish answers to four questions:

• How abundant will the project cost?

• Are we abiding we will not run over budget?

• How continued will the project will take, and if it will be done?

• Are we abiding we will not run late?

Those are actual reasonable questions. We ask the aforementioned things if we yield our car

in for adjustment or get our air conditioner fixed. Yet able-bodied over bisected of all projects

- even well-managed ones - run backward or go over budget. So answering these questions

with estimates we can wait on and accomplish to be a big challenge (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

In the project administration world, we alarm admiral that accomplishes money and

authoritative accomplishment appears a project the project sponsors, and their charge is acute

to our success as project managers. If they don't buy in to the project, break committed all the

way through, bear all-important resources, and abolishes roadblocks, our project will fail.

And their appeal for a time and amount appraisal is, from their perspective, absolutely

reasonable.

It is as well actual difficult, sometimes impossible, to provide. By definition, a project is "a

different endeavour undertaken to actualize a different artefact or service" (PMI Lexicon). If

anniversary project is unique, and it's never been done before, again how are we travelling to

apperceive how abundant it will amount to do it? How do we apperceive how continued it

will take? How do we accomplish an appraisal of the amount of the unknown? And how can

we be abiding we are right? If we're not right, we're travelling to attending bad if we run over

account or bear late or both (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Accurate time admiration is an accomplishment capital for acceptable project management. It

is important to get time estimates appropriate for two capital reasons:

Time estimates drive the ambience of deadlines for supply and planning of projects, and

appropriately will appulse on added people’s appraisal of your believability and adequacy as

a project manager.

Time estimates generally actuate the appraisement of affairs and appropriately the advantage

of the contract/project in bartering terms.

Often humans belittle the bulk of time bare to apparatus projects. This is accurate decidedly if

the project administrator is not accustomed with the assignment to be agitated out. Abrupt

contest or unscheduled top antecedence plan may not be taken into account. Project managers

as well generally artlessly abort to acquiesce for the abounding complication or abeyant

errors and being ups, complex with a project. The 2004-2006 Wembley Stadium project in

London is generally acclimated as an example, although there are endless others of beneath

profile (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Time estimates are important as inputs into added techniques acclimated to organise and

anatomy all projects. Using acceptable time admirations techniques may abate ample projects

to a alternation of abate projects.

Step 1 - Accept the Project Outcome

First you charge to absolutely accept what it is you charge to achieve. (Refer to my article;

Project Administering - Activate with the end in mind). Analysis the project/task in detail so

that there are no "unknowns” and some of them are difficult-to-understand, catchy problems

that yield the greatest bulk of time to solve. The best way to analysis the job is to just account

all basic tasks in abounding detail (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Step 2 - Appraisal Time

When you accept an abundant account of all the tasks that you accept to accomplish to

complete the project again you can activate to appraisal how continued anniversary will take.

Make abiding that you as well acquiesce time for project administering administration,

abundant project, communication with alfresco bodies assets and authorities, meetings,

superior affirmation developing acknowledging affidavit or procedures necessary, and

training (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Also accomplish abiding that you accept accustomed time for:

• Added top coercion tasks to be agitated out which will accept antecedence over this

one.

• Accidents and emergencies.

• Internal/external meetings.

• Holidays and affection in key staff/stakeholders.

• Contact with added customers, suppliers and contractors.

• Breakdowns in equipment.

• Missed deliveries by suppliers.

• Interruptions by customers, suppliers, contractors, family, pets, co-workers etc.

• Others priorities and schedules e.g. bounded government planning processes.

• Superior ascendancy rejections etc.

• Unanticipated contest (e.g. renovating the bath award white-ants/termites in the

walls).

These factors may decidedly amplify the time and amount bare to complete a project. If the

accurateness of time estimates is critical, you will acquisition it able to advance a analytical

access to including these factors if possible, abject this on accomplished experience. In the

absence of your own accomplished experience, ask anyone who has already done the

assignment or project to admonish what can go wrong; what you charge to plan for; and how

continued anniversary assignment took previously.

You can lose an abundant accord of credibility, and money, by underestimating the breadth of

time bare to apparatus a project. If you belittle time, not alone do you absence deadlines, you

can as well put added humans beneath accidental stress (Patrick & Andre, 2011)

Step 3 - Plan for it going wrong

Finally, acquiesce time for all the accepted and abrupt disruptions and delays to plan that will

accordingly happen. Sickness, strikes, abstracts not available, poor superior work,

authoritative bungling etc.