Risk Identification: How to Identify Project Risks

TL;DR

This video explains different methods for identifying project risks, including brainstorming, brainwriting, horizon scanning, risk databases, risk breakdown structures, work breakdown structures, and pre-mortems.

Transcript

you cannot manage your project risks until you know what it is that you need to manage so in this video let's look at the different ways that you can identify the risks in your project this video is sponsored by risky project risky project is a complete Suite of project risk analysis and project risk management software it integrates with all major... Read More

Key Insights

• 📽️ Brainstorming and brainwriting are two methods for identifying project risks, with brainwriting offering benefits of parallel processing and minimizing bias.
• 🦺 Horizon scanning helps identify risks by focusing on different aspects such as social, political, economic, commercial, technological, regulatory, environmental, and security/safety.
• 📽️ Risk databases can be valuable tools for project managers to track and identify common threats based on previous projects.
• ✳️ Risk breakdown structures provide a hierarchical decomposition of risks, categorizing them based on frameworks such as specters, time cost quality scope, or people processes strategy technology.
• 💦 Working from a work breakdown structure can directly link risks to specific elements of work or products.
• 📽️ Pre-mortems, imagining a project's complete failure and identifying the causes, can uncover substantial risks that may threaten the project's success.
• ✳️ Getting identified risks into a risk register or management tool is crucial for effective risk management.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the main issue with using brainstorming as the sole method for identifying risks?

The main issue with brainstorming is managing a large group, as some louder voices may dominate, resulting in a bias towards certain ideas. Additionally, some individuals may be more assertive or dominant, influencing the risks identified by the group.

Q: How does brainwriting overcome the problems associated with brainstorming?

Brainwriting allows for parallel processing of ideas and is suitable for both large and small groups. It eliminates bias by having individuals develop their ideas without being influenced by others. Ideas are written on separate cards, allowing for multiple ideas to be developed simultaneously.

Q: What is horizon scanning and how can it help identify project risks?

Horizon scanning involves looking out to the boundaries of the project and identifying risks that may arise from social interactions, politics, economics, commercial factors, technology, regulation, environment, and security/safety. It serves as a mnemonic to prompt the identification of different types of risks.

Q: How can a risk database aid in risk identification?

By keeping a record of identified and realized risks, project managers can build up a database of common threats. A standard list of risks can serve as a starting point and be customized for each project.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The video discusses the importance of identifying project risks before managing them.

• It highlights the problems with relying solely on brainstorming and introduces the concept of brainwriting as an alternative.

• Five additional approaches for risk identification are presented, including horizon scanning, risk databases, risk breakdown structures, work breakdown structures, and pre-mortems.