Project Risk Management: Summary Report

Businesses in modern markets confront a variety of hazards, one of which is the danger of failing to meet project deadlines, which can arise from a variety of causes. One significant reason is a lack of project prioritization, which occurs when an organization’s priorities shift and necessitate the diversion of resources from planned project activities (Kerzner 134). Businesses may also face this risk if they do not have adequate process management techniques in place. This can lead to a lack of appropriate project planning, reducing project teams’ ability to schedule and benchmark their progress toward project deliverables. This risk can also be the result of an inability to acquire the right human capital, which reduces the access that projects have to the skill sets required to fulfill objectives (Kerzner 186). However, the lack of project management staff also imposes the risk of deviation from project timelines. On the other hand, project teams that do not use project management tools also risk being unable to deliver their products to target markets in the required timeline (Kerzner 351). As highlighted in Figure 1, the hierarchy of these needs requires project management teams to compensate for any deficits that may be inherent to their specific organizational environments to ensure effective mitigation of this risk.

Technology Prioritization

Lack of project Change in priorities management tools

Inability to deliver products Diversion of

Within the required timeline resources to

other projects

Lack of project Ineffective project

management team schedules

Lack of access to required Ineffective benchmarks

human capital

Limited access to variable skill sets Lack of a project plan

Human Resources Process Management

Figure 1: Fishbone diagram documenting the root causes of timeline management risks

Response to Assessed Risk

Adherence to project timelines is vital for any firm, whereby the success of a firm’s activities is dependent on its capacity to meet its targets. Therefore, the use of a preventive rather than reparative strategy would be more beneficial in this case since it fosters a positive corporate culture in which risk management is an active component of the company’s operations. Primarily, it is imperative to assess the company’s current profile to determine the project execution plan that best suits the company’s culture and resource components. As a result, determining the uncertainty in this project is essential as a means for allocating resources and prioritizing its completion (Kerzner 680). The company can thereby prioritize the project as a means of achieving its proposed benefits within the set timeframe while also increasing the value of the project by continually investing time and resources to it. This is essential in improving the urgency of a project while also providing performance incentives to the organizational elements responsible for conducting project-related activities.

While risk buffering can be essential in mitigating unforeseen risks in a running project, the use of risk avoidance approach also has the potential to improve the organization’s capacity to prevent perceived risks. This approach requires the project team to conduct a quantitative risk assessment that identifies their reasons for selecting particular strategies and techniques for individual project phases and components. With this information, the firm can develop a deterministic view of the factors driving the decisions that the team has made regarding the project. As Kerzner (509) highlights, firms must also acknowledge that their actions in mitigating a risk can result in their exposure to other risks. This necessitates continuous assessments until the risk profile is reduced to levels with which the team can confidently approach the specific tasks that it will conduct over the course of the project. However, it is also necessary to note that this may also require extensive reconfiguration of the project to mitigate all the perceived risks and ensure that the solutions do not negatively affect the set timeline.

The use of technology in modern firms is a benefit to the field of risk management, in that it becomes possible to monitor projects and control risks in real time rather than after they occur. In this case, the implementation of a risk control strategy for the project will be essential in reducing the impact or probability of any issues that may hinder the achievement of project deliverables. Kerzner (736) notes that the use of a risk management information system (RMIS) for data gathering can provide project teams with access to historical data that allows them to extrapolate their findings and estimate various aspects of their projects, such as budgets and timelines. This also improves their capacity to anticipate the manifestation of arioso risks, thereby allowing them to manage these risks proactively. Moreover, this also enables the company to ensure that it conforms to the set timeline, especially considering that market competition is a factor in the release of products in modern economic environments.

Questions for Risk Survey

In your opinion, does the project’s current management strategy manage the risk of an inability to adhere to the set timeline due to the use of ineffective project management tools?

Do you currently collect enough data on the project’s exposure to risks, and is the assessment of these risks periodical? How frequently does the project team collect this data?

Which technical limitations do you perceive as imposing the most risk for the project team’s capacity to adhere to the set timeline?

Work Cited

Kerzner, Harold. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.