1. Identifying and Managing Project Risk By Tom Kendrick
Book Club Discussion
Sandra Gwynn| PMI Southern Maryland Chapter
January 23, 2020

2. Chapter 1: Why Project Risk Management?
Discussion Topic:
This book has a copyright of Do you think risk has changed for technical projects since that time?
Chapter 1: Why Project Risk Management?
Technical projects have a high level of risk because of (pg. 1):
High Variation
Staffed “Lean”
Inadequate Funding and Equipment
Fast Execution
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

3. First Panama Canal Project
Discussion Topic:
The First Panama Canal Project failed. Can you identify any of the causes of that failure?
Presentation Title
22 March 2020

4. First Panama Canal Project Causes of Failure:
Poor Planning
Inadequate Change Management
Not listening to the engineers (Sea-level canal project choice instead of dams with locks)
Not enough funding
Environment
Disease
Poor Communication – Lies
Lack of Risk Management
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

5. Chapter 2: Planning for Risk Management
Discussion Topic:
Can you give an example of a project you are familiar with that was authorized, changed, or terminated because of risk management?
Chapter 2: Planning for Risk Management
Risk Management use in Project Selection (pg. 19):
Project is authorized
Project has changes to scope, schedule or resources
Project is rejected
Key Ideas for Project Risk Planning (pg. 35):
Project selection affects risk management and depends upon it.
Project risk management builds on the foundation provided by your project definition and planning.
A project risk plan summarizes your risk management approach
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

6. Chapter 3: Identifying Scope Risk
Discussion Topic:
3 techniques for managing scope risk:
• Using a documented definition process
• Developing a straw-man definition document
• Adopting a rigorous evolutionary methodology
Have you ever been involved in a project that used a straw-man definition approach? If so, how did that work for your project?
Chapter 3: Identifying Scope Risk
Scope risk identifies projects beyond your capabilities.
Sources of scope risk pg. 38: Changes, Defects
Key Ideas for Identifying Scope Risk (pg. 65):
Clearly define all project deliverables and note challenges.
Set limits on the project based on the value of the deliverables.
Decompose all project work into small pieces, and identify work not well understood.
Assign ownership for all project work and probe for reasons behind any reluctance.
Note risk arising from expected project duration or complexity.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

7. Chapter 4: Identifying Project Schedule Risk
Discussion Topic:
Have you ever been involved in a project with unrealistic estimates? Were you able to complete that project?
Chapter 4: Identifying Project Schedule Risk
Key Ideas for Identifying Schedule Risks (pg. 102):
Determine the root causes of all uncertain estimates.
Identify all estimates not based on historical data.
Note dependencies that pose delay risks, including all interfaces.
Find any differences between project effort requirements and life-cycle norms.
Identify risky activities and schedule them early in the project.
Ascertain risks associated with multiple critical (or near- critical) paths.
Note risks associated with lengthy projects.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

8. Chapter 5: Identifying Project Resource Risk
Discussion Topic:
The author says teams that are not co-located increase risk (pg ). Do you agree?
Chapter 5: Identifying Project Resource Risk
Key Ideas for Identifying Resource Risks (pg. 130):
Identify all required skills you need for which you lack named, committed staffing.
Determine all situations in the project plan where people or other resources are overcommitted.
Find all activities with insufficient resources.
Identify uncertain activity effort estimates.
Note outsourcing risks.
Gain funding approval early for needed training, equipment purchases, and travel.
Ascertain all expected project costs.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

9. Chapter 6: Managing Project Constraints and Documenting Risks
Discussion Topic:
This chapter lists several techniques for risk discovery. What techniques have you used to identify project risks?
Chapter 6: Managing Project Constraints and Documenting Risks
Key Ideas for Constraint Management and Risk Discovery (pg. 156):
Minimize differences between project plans and objectives.
Understand and clearly document project priorities.
Use priorities to identify project alternatives.
Explore project opportunities.
Identify and explicitly remove unnecessary project scope.
Determine risks and costs of proposed project changes.
Minimize unknown risk through brainstorming, analysis, and research.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

10. Chapter 7: Quantifying and Analyzing Activity Risks
Discussion Topic:
On a project you have been involved with, are some risks measured with quantitative risk assessment? If so, what percentage?
Chapter 7: Quantifying and Analyzing Activity Risks
Quantitative provides estimates and measures for each risk. Qualitative places risks into ranges and categories.
Key Ideas for Activity Risk Analysis (pg. 179):
Assess probability and impact for each project risk.
Use qualitative risk analysis to prioritize risks.
Apply quantitative risk analysis techniques to significant risks.
If you use PERT, keep it simple.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

11. Chapter 8: Managing Activity Risks
Discussion Topic:
How do you minimize the damage of unknown risk on your projects?
Chapter 8: Managing Activity Risks
Key Ideas for Managing Activity Risks (pg. 217):
Determine root causes.
Avoid, mitigate, or transfer risks when feasible.
Develop contingency plans for remaining significant risks.
Document risk plans and keep risk data visible.
Thirty grams of prevention is worth half a kilogram of cure (approximately).
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

12. Chapter 9: Quantifying and Analyzing Project Risk
Discussion Topic:
Have you used Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) on any projects?
Chapter 9: Quantifying and Analyzing Project Risk
Key Ideas for Project Risk Analysis (pg. 262):
Survey contributors and stakeholders for risk assessments.
Use worst-case estimates, contingency plan data, or PERT analysis to determine project uncertainty.
Estimate project scale in effort-months.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

13. Chapter 10: Managing Project Risk
Discussion Topic:
Do you use Management Reserve on your projects? If so, how do you communicate that to your customers and your team?
Chapter 10: Managing Project Risk
Key Ideas for Managing Project Risk (pg. 288):
Hold a project start-up workshop.
Select and use several project metrics.
Determine required project reserve.
Negotiate and validate possible project objectives.
Freeze scope and manage specification changes.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

14. Chapter 11: Monitoring and Controlling Risky Projects
Discussion Topic:
What communication challenges have you had on your projects? How have you addressed them?
Chapter 11: Monitoring and Controlling Risky Projects
Key Ideas for Risk Monitoring and Control (pg. 317):
Collect status dogmatically.
Monitor variances and trends frequently throughout our project.
Respond to issues and problems promptly.
Communicate clearly and often.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

15. Chapter 12: Closing Projects
Discussion Topic:
In your experience, how good have the project closeout processes been for the projects you have worked on? Do you perform a lessons- learned/project retrospective analysis?
Chapter 12: Closing Projects
Key Ideas for Project Closure (pg. 329):
Thoroughly and accurately document the project results.
Recognize accomplishments and thank contributors.
Conduct a project retrospective and use the recommendations.
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020

16. Chapter 13: Conclusion Discussion Topic:
Are their risk planning techniques or risk management techniques discussed in this book that you plan to use?
Chapter 13: Conclusion
Do enough planning and risk management to convince yourself that the project is, in fact, possible (pg. 331).
Information on the PERIL database is available at
Identifying and Managing Project Risk Book Club Discussion
22 March 2020