In my last posting I used the term brown cygnets to describe unknown known project risks that, with a good project risk management system, could have been white swans (known unknowns). So, what drives a good risk management system? The underpinning requirement is having executive support. I recently had a colleague who wrote “I have encountered...
In my last post I suggested using project management as a potential way to manage unknown unknowns that were external to an organisation such as Covid 19. That was the suggestion for black swans that affect the whole organisation, but what about project specific black swans? The reality is that unknown unknowns within a project are...
I sometimes ask project/risk related people to tell me their current greatest challenge. It generates some interesting ideas. One recently was regarding how to deal with unknown unknowns such as Covid 19. For most organisations, other than those in public health (hopefully), Covid was not a risk. It was not on anyone’s radar. It was a...
Back in 1996 I was heavily involved in the New Southern Railway (now called the Airport link) working with (what was then) Rail Services. We undertook a series of workshops to assist with our tender submission. The data was held on spread sheets as in those days there were no other tools available. Over the...
Clients are often concerned about the accuracy of estimates and the derivation of contingency. The only 100% certainty is that the estimate and actual outturn costs will not be the same! The nature of an estimate often comprises items where the amount of information known is very good through to a complete guess. Similarly, contingency...
Shortly after the draft ISO31000 was released a worldwide group discussed some of its merits and weaknesses. One question asked was whether “objective” should be defined in the standard. As the standard defines risk as “the effect of uncertainty on objectives” this was an important question. There was a diversity of views but I suggest...
There are many techniques for identifying risks but we have found the most useful to be a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS). The RBS is a framework that once developed can be used for risk management across an organisation from a project through to business up to strategic planning. (Basically any planned business activity with an objective.)...
RiskTools evolved as a result of Consultancy work undertaken with many Clients. The processes that were developed sprung from AS/NZS 4360 which (as with many) standards describes “What” needs to be done. (The processes also support the latest standard – ISO 31000.) The “What” raises the question of “How” which in turn drives what is...
