Every time we make a decision, we reduce the probability of some risks but may increase the probability of other risks. Consider where the following story may fit into our discussion. We have a project that should have, in fact, started months ago to meet the desired production introduction date.  Unfortunately, that did not happen […]

There are a number of quality tools that can help to evoke the risks that may be associated with your project. One such tool usually associated with cause and effect is the Ishikawa diagram. We can use this tool to explore risks as well. We will explore what happens (cause) and how it will impact […]

We can use value analysis and value engineering techniques to improve our product cost structure and ultimately our value proposition.  The analysis phase of this activity is called value analysis. The design phase of this activity is called value engineering.  We are a bit constrained during these activities since as we have a product already […]

There are times when the project manager will be subjected to the long list of potential risks brought to them by their team.  Handling these issues rather than summarily dismissing the item being brought to their attention as input from a hypercritical or doom-centric team member is important for project success and team morale.  If […]

We perform risk audits on projects to ascertain whether we are deviating from the desired budget, schedule, and quality levels we specified at the start of the project. At the 50,000 foot level, risk auditing looks like the following: Define the problem Choose an audit team leader Choose an audit team or let the leader […]

Okay – so we have worked with our team and have documented a list of risks, and have performed a qualitative or quantitative assessment – perhaps even both of these. Now what?  One such risk management failure then happens when we place the risk register on a shelf somewhere and the subsequent planned actions are […]

Program trigger events were discussed in our last blog. We can set up a program data base that has inbuilt triggers or we can pick up on the issue if we build these triggers into frequent product development reviews. We feel the project/program manager is the primary party to monitor for trigger events. Secondarily, the […]

A contingency in project management is a reaction plan to an untoward event; in short, we plan ahead for the failure of a given task. In order for a trigger to “fire,” we must set a threshold value that activates the trigger; otherwise, the trigger should never fire. Thresholds can be set based on financial, […]

Many organizations have a series of activities or processes (design reviews, analyses, verifications, validations, etc.) that they go through to produce the end product or service. The work will start with some kind of development process, which may be a matter of days, months or years, depending on the complexity of the product or service. […]

The trigger is a new concept to those acquainted with the FMEA approach to problem elimination. The trigger event (or threshold) is how we know we need to invoke our risk reduction activities and is direct responsibility of the person monitoring. Risk Response and Contingency Budgets Each risk dollar amount at stake is multiplied by […]