THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF RISK MANAGEMENT

“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited of what could go right” – Tony Robbins

Risk and uncertainty are a part of everyday life.

Consider the painter who is using a ladder to paint the side of a building: once the ladder has been placed open in the right position, he will give it a good shake from side to side. By doing so, the painter is simulating how stable the ladder will be when he climbs up to paint the building. The same applies for projects. Give your projects a good shake: there are new risks likely to fall out.

What I am trying to say is that there is more to risk than what one can see. What if I told you that Risk Management allows you to inherit precious treasures? Treasures you might have never thought of? Here is a quick countdown for the ‘not so obvious’ treasures of Risk Management:

• Hidden Treasure # 1 : Easier to spot Trouble

Risk management practices let us see ‘where’ and ‘which’ projects need our attention. Just like a good doctor, it will give us an understanding of the project performance and allow us to diagnose it to further health checks, reviews or audits.

• Hidden Treasure # 2 : Fewer Surprises

Leaders generally do not like surprises! A proactive approach to managing risk allows us to communicate project challenges in a timely way. We can spot concerns early on, which means we can assign the right people to do the right job before it gets ‘too sticky to handle’. This way, we can always avoid those last minute high effort fixes to a project, which is always an expensive way to solve problems.

• Hidden Treasure # 3 : Rich Data

Better quality and helpful data would enable leaders to make informed decisions which are grounded in the reality of a project. Access to risk information in real time on a project management dashboard is priceless as decisions are always made on the latest data, not on an outdated report.

• Hidden Treasure # 4 : Awesome Communication

Good risk management elevates the conversation. It creates ongoing discussions between project teams, stakeholders, suppliers and everyone involved with the project. People involved in risk management discussions will see that their success is tied to the success of the project and there is willingness to work as a whole team to do something about it.

• Hidden Treasure # 5 : Escalations are clearer and easier

When a project team can’t deal with a risk themselves, they need to escalate it to senior management for advice and action. Clear risk management processes take the guesswork out of when this should happen. A defined process ensures that important risks are seen and assessed by the right people at the right time, enabling early action as required to better address a potential problem.

There are many more treasures of good risk management than just these 5 hidden treasures, but take these on board and you are well on your way to understand the depth of benefits that risk management offers to your organization.