Essential Steps for Delivering Successful Programs -
Steps 7 & 8
7. Practice Systematic Risk Management
Effective program risk management involves a coordinated, holistic approach.
For each project within a program, the program risk manager should direct and
ensure:
- Assessment of both program and project-level risks
- Prioritization of all assessed risks
- Definition of response strategies
- Integration of all response strategies into the WBS
- Allocation of risk reserves
Even though the program manager is focusing on the program level, he or she
should not be afraid to conduct risk reviews on individual projects to ensure
the project manager has been actively identifying and dealing with risk. In fact,
good risk management should be considered key criteria for ongoing assessment.
Also, it is important that all risk identification and analysis be performed in
groups to avoid individual bias.
Once a list of risks has emerged, the program risk manager should prioritize
the list to focus the development of response strategies on the most severe. Response
strategies should then be incorporated into the integrated program master plan
so they can be properly tracked. Finally, the program team can decide how to respond
to risk by utilizing the risk reserves that should be included in the program
budget.
8. Implement the Right Control Processes
In 2008 Gartner predicted that three out of four successful $500,000 projects
would be planned and tracked with project office support, while three out of four
failed projects would not be (www.gartner.com).
The stakes are higher with programs because the consequences of missing targets
are more severe and there's simply more things that can go wrong. Tough questions
that need to be asked include:
- Are project deliverables meeting requirements?
- Are teams adhering to project schedules?
- Are risks, issues and changes being properly identified and managed?
- Are estimates proving reliable?
The program office should help update individual project plans and progress
reports regularly to help aggregate the information at the program level. The
impact of any risk, issue or change within a component project needs to be recognized
as early as possible to prevent disruption at the program level. Think of it as
a big family; good communication from the very beginning can prevent a lot of
problems down the line.
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Steps
5 & 6
