Risk involves the notion of uncertainty, making “risk management is an integral part of project management” (Heldman, 2005, p. 1), to reduce that uncertainty. Successful project managers plan their projects goals and by having a risk management plan in place, they can be prepared to react risks as they arise. However, risks are not the enemy. Risks can be both positive and negative (PMI, 2013) and a successful project managers are prepared to meet both head on, ensuring that the least number of surprises occur while your project is underway (Lavanya & Malarvizhi, 2008). While risk management is justifiable ion almost all projects, “the level of implementation can vary from project to project, depending on such factors as size, type of project, who the customer is, contractual requirements, relationship to the corporate strategic plan, and corporate culture” (Kerzner, 2009, p. 743). Historically, risk management was considered and optional, add-on process (Warburton & Kanabar, 2013, p. 231). After all, why should resources be dedicated to something that may not happen? “Risk management is a proactive attempt to recognize what can go wrong and plan ahead” (Warburton & Kanabar, 2013, p. 231) for a ready response to these issues. When we compare it to the medical field, just like medicine, preventing an illness is much easier that trying to cure it. By conducting risk management, you can identify when you are on the path of project disaster and change course before you get to the problem. “Risks are composed of three elements: the risk event itself, the consequence or the impact of a risk event occurring, and the likelihood or probability of a risk event occurring” (Becker, 2004). There are many tools we have discussed in the PGMT program to assist in identifying these elements. Things such as SWOT, cause and effect analysis and assumption analysis are all useful tools; however, I find document review to be at the root of all of these. By reviewing, the lessons learned from past projects, we could see what can and does go wrong in the type of project you are working on. Risks have causes and well-documented lessons learned documentation should include a root cause analysis of why a risk was encountered. This information can be invaluable in identifying what to expect. Ninety percent of your time is spent in project communication and it is the most important responsibility you have as a project manager (Heldman, 2005, p. 20). By communicating risk status along with project overall project, allows the opportunity to review key risks and “check the pulse of those risks that still appear dormant” (Heldman, 2005). Personally, I feel relaying this information is important because it allows more eye to identify risk triggers that I may have missed.
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