Risk Management Plan & Strategies for Project - Click to Visit Sample

Questions: Discuss why risk management is so important to the success of the selected project in a letter to the project sponsor. Describe the steps that will be used to develop the Risk Management Plan. Answers: Introduction The purpose of this report is to undertake a detail project management strategic planning and risk management based on a particular project selected for this purpose. The main objective of this paper is to carry out the primary roles and responsibilities involved in a proper Risk Management Strategy and Plan. To achieve this purpose, the study includes a detailed systematic or sequential approach to identify potential risks and develop appropriate risk response, mitigation strategies, monitoring and contingency plans (Dalcher, 2013). The report starts with a brief outline and description of the chosen project and dives into the details of executing the project successfully from the perspective of risk management, mitigation and planning strategies. Project Outline Project Description The particular project selected for this purpose is based on a house building and construction project development scenario. To be more precise, the present study focuses on the fundamental aspects and the major phases of developing a project on building a house. For this purpose, the study is taken forward from the project managers perspective and the project scope is defined. This step essentially includes the creation of WBS or work breakdown structure for planning and scheduling the development and construction of the house (Davidson Frame, 2014). However, for a successful WBS creation, planning proper risk management strategy and contingency steps is specifically essential. Project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The WBS for the Building a House project requires identifying the major components of the primary work that is to be accomplished. After that, the major components or tasks are further decomposed according to their corresponding physical and functional characteristics. The different WBS levels clearly demonstrate each of these components and their corresponding sub-components (Davies Brady, 2016). Therefore, the WBS includes the major project deliverables, phases, tasks and activities to be considered for the house-building project. Outline Number Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors 0 Building a House 149 days Mon 2/22/16 Thu 9/15/16 1 House structure 91 days Mon 2/22/16 Mon 6/27/16 1.1 Materials 33 days Mon 2/22/16 Wed 4/6/16 1.1.1 define layout and materials 7 days Mon 2/22/16 Tue 3/1/16 1.1.2 Managing delivery 8 days Wed 3/2/16 Fri 3/11/16 3 1.1.3 Onsite storage of materials 18 days Mon 3/14/16 Wed 4/6/16 4 1.2 Timber parts of structure along with interior and exterior walls 84 days Wed 3/2/16 Mon 6/27/16 3 1.2.1 Masonry parts of structure including basement walls 19 days Thu 4/7/16 Tue 5/3/16 2 1.2.2 skeleton works 30 days Wed 3/2/16 Tue 4/12/16 1.2.3 finishes works 18 days Wed 4/13/16 Fri 5/6/16 8 1.2.4 Cladding 7 days Mon 5/9/16 Tue 5/17/16 9 1.2.5 Roofing 21 days Mon 5/9/16 Mon 6/6/16 9 1.2.6 Walls 12 days Mon 5/9/16 Tue 5/24/16 9 1.2.7 installation of mechanical / electrical 11 days Wed 5/25/16 Wed 6/8/16 12 1.2.8 Steel parts of structure including major spans 15 days Tue 6/7/16 Mon 6/27/16 11 2 Scheduling, budget and site management 73 days Tue 6/7/16 Thu 9/15/16 2.1 Feasibility study 9 days Tue 6/7/16 Fri 6/17/16 11 2.2 hardware and software requirements 14 days Mon 6/20/16 Thu 7/7/16 16 2.3 Process requirements 11 days Fri 7/8/16 Fri 7/22/16 17 2.4 Facilities 4 days Mon 6/20/16 Thu 6/23/16 16 2.5 Equipment 6 days Mon 6/20/16 Mon 6/27/16 16 2.6 Stakeholder management 13 days Mon 6/20/16 Wed 7/6/16 16 2.7 Budget planning 7 days Thu 7/7/16 Fri 7/15/16 21 2.8 Budget preparation 17 days Mon 7/18/16 Tue 8/9/16 22 2.9 Communication planning 10 days Wed 8/10/16 Tue 8/23/16 23 2.10 Schedule preparation 17 days Wed 8/24/16 Thu 9/15/16 24 2.11 Managing change 4 days Thu 7/7/16 Tue 7/12/16 21 2.12 Monitoring and measuring progress 9 days Wed 7/13/16 Mon 7/25/16 26 2.13 Procurement 10 days Thu 7/7/16 Wed 7/20/16 21 2.14 Risk assessment 10 days Wed 7/13/16 Tue 7/26/16 26 Table 1: WBS task and subtasks levels (Source: Created by the Author) Figure 1: Work breakdown structure for house-building project (Source: Created by the author) Risk Management Justification Importance of risk management The project managers need to coordinate properly with the stakeholders in order to establish effective risk management strategy and plan, through which the project manager specifically identifies the strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the building a house project development (Floricel, Michela Piperca, 2016). For the present scenario, the following are the reasons why risk management is essential for executing the house-building project. For successful accomplishment of the house-building and construction project, it is important to consider carefully some of the major factors that may cause hindrance to the smooth flow of the development process. For example, bad or uncertain weather conditions, unclear and ambiguous objectives, non-compliance with particular construction rules, policies or regulations, operational risks, breaches of information and various other kinds of internal as well as external risks involved. With respect to scenario as described above, risk management helps identifying the potential threats and challenges and thereby formulates appropriate strategies and procedures for preventing these identified risks (Hobbs, 2012). In addition to that, it is also essential to execute these formulated strategies at the correct time in a correct manner. Moreover, all of the members directly associated with the project development needs to be adequately aware of the potential risks as well as with the adopted strategies to be able to cooperate with the project team in a proper way. Apart from that, risk management techniques are also significantly important to determine the critical tasks for the project and thereby set appropriate ground rules that facilitate achieving the primary objectives of the house-building project under consideration. Steps for developing risk management plan The detailed steps involved in the process of developing a risk management plan for the present project of house construction under concern are described as follows: Step 1: Establishing the context: the first step deals with identifying the accurate objectives of the stakeholders determine the availability of resources and appropriately recognize the structure that can be adopted for coping with different scenarios that may arise during the development phase (Huemann, 2013). Figure 2: Steps in developing risk management plan (Source: Created by the Author) Step 2: Identifying the potential risks: This step deals with the identification of potential risks by different methods such as by talking to the stakeholders, brainstorming, recognize the major areas of safety concerns that might be faced. Step 3: Assessment of the identified risks: The risk assessment process involves measuring the identified risks based on their probability of occurrence and potential severity of loss. It essentially helps in prioritizing the risks (Hydari, 2013). Step 4: Treating the potential risks: This step deals with defining how each of the risks is to be dealt with i.e. the method or course of action to handle the risks. Step 5: Creating risk management plan: Creation of risk management plan depends on choosing proper measures and controls for mitigation purpose. Step 6: Implementation of the plan: Implementation specifically deals with actualizing the planned methods for mitigating the impacts of risks. Step 7: Evaluating and reviewing the plan: The initial plan may need changes or additional information (Young, 2013). For this purpose a constant review and evaluation of the plan is to be ensured. Project Risks Identification Brainstorming potential risks for house-building project The several types of risks that can be faced in this particular project are discussed underneath: Technical risks: The building a house project can significantly involve different types of potential technical risks associated with the design process, need for exceptions in the blueprint design, construction risks such as accidents (Turner, 2012). External risks: The external risks that this particular project may face can be based on inconsistency in the time, scope or costs, lack of information needed for permits, risks regarding licenses. Late changes or additional needs and requirements in the stakeholder requests, unwillingness of the landowner to sell, changing of priorities, inaccurate assumption at the planning stage, environmental factors and so on. Organizational risks: Organizational risks can include inefficiency of the workers, losing experienced staff at a crucial phase of the development process, unanticipated workload, and inadequacy of planning time and so on (Rose, 2016). Project management risks: Project management risks may include unwanted delays caused by the contractors and consultants, potential errors found in the estimation of costs and scheduling process, lack of coordination and communication, lack of control, improper definition of project scope, deliverables or costs. Performance risks: Performance risks may include inadequate equipment and labor productivity, defects in the works, unsuitability of materials, disputes and conflicts among the labor and so on. Financial and economic risks: The different financial and economic risks include inflation, funding related issues and so on. Security risks: Security risks may include threats such as intrusion, corruption, terrorism, and most importantly negligence. Contractual and legal risks: These types of risks may include delayed resolution of certain major disputes, sudden changes in order negotiations, delay in payments, or extras or contracts or even insolvency of contractor or subcontractors (Randolph, 2014). Societal and political risks: This type of risks can be environmental pressures, different policies and regulations, non-compliance with laws, safety or labor laws, strikes or public disorders (Randolph, 2012). Risk Identification Technique The different risk identification technique applied for identifying the above risks essentially involved recognizing the sources of risks using SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis helps in pointing out the potential threats as well as the weaknesses for the present project. Figure 3: SWOT analysis for house building project (Source: Created by the Author) Other than Brainstorming and SWOT analysis, three more procedures were adopted for this purpose. These are discussed below: Interview notes: The interview sessions conducted by specialists can yield the sources of business risks from different management levels with respect to their individual concerns. Workshops: This particular risk identification method deals with arranging for workshops, meetings with a group of employees and staffs for identifying risks and their potential impact on the organization. Questionnaires: This technique deals with developing questionnaires to that focuses on the issues and concerns of the staffs to understand the risks and threats involved in the operating environment of the project. Project Risks Assessment Risk matrix for grading the identified risks Likelihood of occurrence Level of severity LOW MEDIUM HIGH LOW 3 2 1 MEDIUM 1 3 2 HIGH 3 2 1 Table 2: Risk matrix (Source: Created by the Author) The risks identified for this project have been prioritized depending on the risk matrix as demonstrated above. Risk Description Occurrence Severity Rank (Prioritization) Status Physical risks (natural catastrophes, geotechnical conditions, weather conditions, accidents etc.) Medium High 2 --- Financial and economic risks (inflation, funding) Low Medium 3 --- Societal and political risks (non-compliance with laws, public disorders) Low High 1 --- Project management risks (delays by the contractors and consultants, lack of coordination and communication) Medium Low 3 --- Contractual and legal risks (payment delay, changes in order negotiation, disputes) High Low 2 --- Table 3: Risk assessment (Source: Created by the Author) Risk Assessment Table Risk Name Risk Description Risk Likelihood Ranking Risk Impact Ranking Risk Impact Description Risk 001 Physical risks including bad weather situations, natural catastrophes and other geotechnical conditions Low High The project cannot be progressed unless the impact is reduced, severe damage may be caused Risk 002 The financial risks may include inflation, fundraising problems Medium Medium The quality of the project Risk 003 The project management risks may involve errors in schedule and cost estimation, delays or lack of communication and coordination among them team members High High The smooth execution of the project is significantly disrupted, deliverables are not properly met Risk 004 Performance risks essentially involves lack of experience and skills among the workers Low High The construction phase involves major flaws that may result in faulty design or development of the house structure Risk 005 Security risks such as intrusion, corruption, terrorism Low High Project development can be entirely hampered or postponed Risk 006 Unanticipated workload, internal conflicts, sudden change in mission Medium Medium The project execution is significantly disrupted and risk mitigation process is applied to reduce the impact Risk 007 External risks such as stakeholder miscommunication, change of priorities, inaccurate planning, supplier disputes High High Immediate risk mitigation is undertaken otherwise the project fails in the long run Risk 008 Social and political risks such as labor strikes, public disorders, non-compliance with laws Medium Medium The project may be postponed or kept on hold, certain phases may be significantly affected Table 4: Risk matrix for grading the identified risk (Source: Created by the Author) Project Risks Responses Strategy Risk description Risk response Associated action Physical risks (natural catastrophes, geotechnical conditions, weather conditions, accidents etc.) Avoidance (elimination) No activity is performed Financial and economic risks (inflation, funding) Reduction (mitigation) Methods are incorporated to reduce the severity Societal and political risks (non-compliance with laws, public disorders) Retention /Accept The loss already occurred is to be accepted Project management risks (delays by the contractors and consultants, lack of coordination and communication) Transfer / Share The risky area is shared with a third party Contractual and legal risks (payment delay, changes in order negotiation, disputes) Retention / Accept The loss already occurred is to be accepted Security risks (corruption intrusion etc.) Transfer / Share The risky area is shared with a third party Table 5: Risk response strategy (Source: Created by the Author) Inputs to risk response strategy planning are essentially the following: Risk management plan: The risk management plan involves the specific method descriptions starting from risk identification, response planning, monitoring and control. Prioritized list of quantified risks: The risks are listed according to their order of priority from high to low risks (Morris, 2013). The probability and impacts of the individual risks associated with them are included in the risk response planning process. Risk thresholds: Risk thresholds are developed and referred to, in case of understanding the potential of the organizations, and identifying the acceptable degree of risks that can be allowed that influences the risk response planning strategies. List of potential responses: The risk identification process requires categorization of individual risks with respect to their probability, impact and particular nature. Risk owners: Project stakeholders play the major role in the decision-making process of risk response planning (Muller Soderlund, 2015). Common risk causes: Other than the input factors as mentioned above, it should also be checked whether or not more than one risks are generated by the same source i.e. a common cause. Tools and techniques to plan risk response for the identified risks: The tools and techniques for formation of the risk response strategy are described below- Avoidance: Risk avoidance specifically deals with eliminating the portion that was causing the risk to occur (Levin, 2013). Risks events are thoroughly assessed for obtaining required information. The project plan is to reduce the scope, requirements, or specification. Transference: Risk transference deals with outsourcing the specific risks to third party and share the risks. It may include passing responsibility or shifting liability (which is called outsourcing). Mitigation: Certain risks are handled with mitigation techniques (Indelicato, 2013). The probability or impact is to be reduced by taking measures such as implementing new course of actions that intend to reduce the specific problems. Acceptance: Risk response also involves another type, namely, risk acceptance. A contingency plan is applied for taking the particular course do as to formulate the most suitable response strategy (Lippe vom Brocke, 2016). Outputs of the risk response strategy development and application: Risk response plan, also known as the risk register, includes the identified risks, risk descriptions, the areas or components of the projects that will be affected by the particular risk as well as the particular project objectives that will be affected by the identified risks. Apart from the risk register, it is also necessary to identify the risk owners and thei corresponding roles and responsibilities that have been assigned to them. outputs of the risk response planning further involves the residual risks, secondary risks as well as the contractual agreements made by transferring outsourcing certain risks to the third parties (Mir Pinnington, 2014). Apart from that, in case of the acceptance risk response plan, the contingency plans are also a part of the output. Risk response strategy forming also involves allocating risk owners to- each of the individual risk. This process has to be performed carefully as it is a very crucial task to select the right owner for the type of risk. Risk register updates also result from applying the risk response strategies (Mastrofini, 2013). The risk register is updated with proper description of the actions associated with the particular risk response. Project management plan updates are also considered one of the outputs of the risk response strategies. These updates specifically decides how the individual risk will be treated and based on that, the plans and strategies are modified. Project document updates are made after identifying the necessary areas for improvements on the managerial aspects (Leybourne, Warburton Kanabar, 2014). These updates mainly result from identification of managerial risks. Risk related contract decisions are usually related with making contractual agreements among the third parties for planning suitable and appropriate risk response. Risk management can further consider establishing subcontracts with proper roles and responsibilities. Apart from that, it also helps deciding whether or not to choose a particular contractor for the house building project. Purchasing and procurement planning refers to the decision, whether or not to purchase certain raw materials for the development purpose. This mainly involves the reviewing of risks associated with purchasing or production decisions (Floricel, Michela Piperca, 2016). The beneficial factor of the risk response strategies is that, the risks can be directly transferred to the sellers or third parties, or the suppliers of the raw materials required for the development process. Updates to the procurement management planning and documentation can also result from risk response planning. Project Risks Responsibility Plan Task description Project Chartering Committee Client Representative Project manager Technology Team Risk manager Risk planning Risk identification Risk analysis Response planning Monitoring and control Table 6: Risk responsibility plan (Source: Created by the Author) Project Risks Monitoring Control Plan The risk monitoring and control is discussed with the specific inputs, tools and techniques and outputs (Ponnappa, 2014). Inputs: inputs for monitoring and controlling risks are essentially as follows: Risk management plan Risk response plan Communication plan Additional risk identification and risk analysis Changes on project scope Tools and techniques: tools and techniques applied for control and monitoring risks: Risk response audits Risk reviews Performance measurement and evaluation Earned value analysis Outputs: usually the outputs of this step are as follows: Change requests Updates to the risk response strategy matrix Risk database Corrective actions Workload plans Updates to the checklist of risk identification Project Risks WBS Budget Updates Risks WBS of Building a house project Figure 3: Building a house project risks WBS (Source: Created by the Author) Budget Updates Tasks Subtasks Employees Duration (days) Budget Totals Ground works $66,000 Concrete works 5 16 $43,000 Excavation 2 14 $23,000 Landscaping $43,568 Pool 7 13 $12,000 Yards 5 24 $12,000 Gardens 6 17 $19,568 Materials $46,050 Delivery 24 $24,900 Storage 20 $21,150 House structure $73,361 Steel 5 23 $12,100 Masonry 9 30 $13,124 Timber 2 11 $24,903 Project management $23,234 Interior $34,243 Services $12,123 Electrical 2 11 $12,120 Security 8 10 $10,000 Cladding $60,150 Roofing 10 20 $31,000 Walls 12 25 $29,150 $3,23,372 Table 7: Budget updates (Source: Created by Author) Project Risks Communications Plan Stakeholder Messages Vehicles Frequency Communicators Feedback Mechanisms Project Sponsor Communicate updated project status Weekly PMO status report Monthly Project Management Team (Project Manager) E-mail, In-person or shared drive Project manager Previous day checkpoint achieved Board meetings Weekly Project Management Team Tele-conference Project Team Providing top down communication and resolution of the issues in team Team meetings Daily Project Team members In-person in a conference room Project chartering committee Correspond status and escalate the issues that need potential resolution. Weekly executive report Weekly Project Sponsor administrative members In-person or shared drive Table 8: Communication plan (Source: Created by the Author) Conclusion The report thoroughly included the risk management strategy and planning activities required for undertaking a project based on building a house. The construction of the house and its different tasks and activities related with the major components of house building and construction are also described. The house construction project essentially involves potential risks that might crop up during the execution of the house construction and development project. In addition to that, the paper also focuses on the specific steps involved in risk management plan such as identification of risks through brainstorming, assessing and prioritizing risks, developing response strategy and plans. Finally, the project also involves the control and monitoring plan for ensuring successful accomplishment of the entire project of building a house. The combination of strategies are important for preventing certain risks by taking adequate measures against such threats as identified in the report with res pect to the particular project selected for this purpose. References Dalcher, D. (2013). The IT Project Management Answer Book. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 44(5), e1-e1. Davidson Frame, J. (2014). Reconstructing Project Management. Project Management Journal, 45(1), e2-e2. Davies, A., Brady, T. (2016). Explicating the dynamics of project capabilities. International Journal Of Project Management, 34(2), 314-327. Floricel, S., Michela, J., Piperca, S. (2016). Complexity, uncertainty-reduction strategies, and project performance. International Journal Of Project Management. Indelicato, G. (2013). Total Quality Management for Project Management. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 44(4), e1-e1. Indelicato, G. (2016). Agile for Project Managers. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 47(1), e4-e4. Levin, G. (2013). Project Management for Non-Project Managers. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 44(5), e2-e2. Leybourne, S., Warburton, R., Kanabar, V. (2014). Is project management the new management 2.0?. Organisational Project Management, 1(1), 16. Lippe, S., vom Brocke, J. (2016). Situational Project Management for Collaborative Research Projects. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 47(1), 76-96. Martinsuo, M. (2013). Project portfolio management in practice and in context. International Journal Of Project Management, 31(6), 794-803. Mastrofini, E. (2013). Project management template / Project management facile con le mappe mentali. PROJECT MANAGER (IL), (16), 47-47. Mir, F., Pinnington, A. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: Linking Project Management Performance and Project Success. International Journal Of Project Management, 32(2), 202-217. Morris, P. (2013). Reconstructing project management. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. Muller, R., Soderlund, J. (2015). Innovative approaches in project management research. International Journal Of Project Management, 33(2), 251-253. Ponnappa, G. (2014). Project Stakeholder Management. Project Management Journal, 45(2), e3-e3. Randolph, S. (2012). Fundamentals of Project Management, Fourth Edition. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 43(4), 81-81. Randolph, S. (2014). Maximizing Project Value: A Project Manager's Guide. Project Management Journal, 45(2), e2-e2. Rose, K. (2016). Project Sponsorship: Achieving Management Commitment for Project Success. Proj Mgmt Jrnl, 47(1), e1-e1. Turner, R. (2012). International Journal of Project Management, Editorial January 2012. International Journal Of Project Management, 30(1), 1. Young, T. (2013). Successful project management. Philadelphia, Pa.: Kogan Page Ltd.