Risk Management is not hard, do it
This is another area where Software Project Managers are not very good at: Risk Management. Why not? I found 2 main things and both are typical of the SW industry:
- There is no pressure on PMs and no expectation that they perform risk management. Most executives know about risk management but they don't realize that it's part of a PM's responsibilities.
- Too many PMs in the SW industry just don't have hard skills, so even if they understand the importance of risk management, they don't know how to do it. So they just don't.
Anyway, just as I noted in Cost Management is not Optional, I think that Risk Management shouldn't be optional either. It's important for the project and for the PM as a skill. And, it's really pretty easy. I don't want to "teach" Risk Management here. As I noted before, text books can do it much better than a blog. But I do want to give some tips here:
- It's not hard. Any basic book on project management gives the basics of Risk Management. Take a little time to learn it. It has a lot of overlap with Issue Management, which most PMs do regularly.
- Use mitigation to avoid contingency. A lot of PMs forget that it's much better to get rid of the risk before the risk event happens, rather than execute the contingency plan after the risk event has happened. Why be the smart guy (or gal) if you can be the wise one?
- Assign risk owners. You don't have to resolve all the risks all by yourself. You have a team. Let them help out. In fact, there will be risks which you are not the right person to own anyway.
- Track regularly. Risks are like issues. You need to track them regularly to make sure they are being taken care of.
- Find a risk log template . Templates make life so much easier. Don't waste time re-inventing the wheel. There are zillions of templates out there.
Let me know what you think.
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