Risk Management – The Overlooked First Process of Project Planning - Part 5 of 6

Part 5 of 6 – Conducting the Risk Workshop

In Part 3, “The Missing Something”, I recommended holding an initial Risk Workshop at the beginning of the project.

Risk Workshops provide early identification of risks.  The workshop is conducted as a brainstorming facilitated meeting with a Facilitator and note taker.  The Kickoff Workshop should be conducted with representatives from all affected groups – from Senior Management to workers (Vice Presidents, Directors, CIO, line managers, solution specialists, production supervisors, etc.).  The reason for having such a broad group is to ensure that the project risks and environment are articulated from across the organization.  The discussion in such a disparate group will awaken awareness and possibly bring forward risks which may have been overlooked.

For example, I held a Kickoff Risk Workshop at the Headquarters of a major shipping company.  The scope involved an overhaul of worldwide shipping activities by replacing and updating processes and the infrastructure needed to achieve the goals.  Participants included C-level executives as well as operations and technical managers – all were subject matter experts in their areas of expertise.  During a roundtable discussion, I asked what the impact would be if this project didn’t work or was not delivered on time.  The CIO answered “I will lose my job” – an unexpected answer but one that focused all participants.

The activities of a Risk Workshop are

·        Identify the Risks

·        Quantify and prioritize the risks

·        Develop risk responses

·        Assign Actions and Owners

·        Establish Periodic Reviews

Tools: Follow up on Sticky Sorter from Microsoft Labs

Well, I gave it a try.

Recall that I posted about a post-it note application called Sticky Sorter from Microsoft Labs.

After giving this tool a good trial, the original promise failed to deliver. The limitation is space on my desktop. Although the tool allows you to "stack" notes, it is just not flexible enough to navigate through a large number of items.

Pass on Sticky Sorter and use a mindmapper for brainstorms, lessons learned, and creative work. I'll post my favorite mindmappers for you soon.

Here is a link to the oringinal post:

Tools: Sticky Sorter from Microsoft Labs

Tools: Sticky Sorter from Microsoft Labs

Todays tool is StickySorter from Microsoft Labs.

I have been playing with this tool and considering it for a phase postmortem using a projector with my team all in one conference room.   

You may download StickySorter at http://www.officelabs.com/projects/stickysorter/Pages/default.aspx.  The executable installs locally on a PC and provides a "Wall" that you can place virtual sticky notes on.  Files are saved as CSV files and are easily opened and editted using Microsoft Excel.

This screen shot should tell you everything you need to know:

The Verdict:

Simplicity:  Grade A+

Ease of Use:  Grade A-

Cloud Capability:  N/A