Project Risk and Issue Management - The Skills in a Day

Course details

Some element of risk and issue management is essential in all projects. Too often however, risk and issue management fails to get proper attention. At best this results in additional unplanned time and effort during the implementation phase, at worst a project may have to be terminated early.

The purpose of this workshop is therefore to make Project Managers aware of ‘best practice’ risk and issue management policies, procedures and planning techniques, so that risks and issues can be more effectively managed in a project environment.

The workshop is based around a ‘live’ case study project and during the day delegates will identify, assess and plan how best to deal with the threats, opportunities and issues that the project poses. In part, this will involve delegates running a detailed risk workshop during which all the common tools and techniques will be practiced. By the end of the day delegates will understand the correct level and detail of risk and issue management to be applied to their projects and will have gained very practical experience by using the varied techniques in a ‘live’ case study project environment.

Is it right for me?

Suitable for new project managers or risk managers with some experience, who wish to strengthen their risk and issue management skills. Those who need to learn the wider basic tools and techniques of project management from scratch would be better suited to "An Introduction to Effective Project Management".

What will I learn?

By the end of this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the fundamental differences between project risks and issues
• Appreciate the key principles that support effective risk and issue management
• Know the key roles and responsibilities within both risk and issue management
• Create a risk management plan and other key documentation
• Lead a risk workshop or risk review at any stage of a project
• Recognise and use effective risk and issue management processes
• Use all of the common risk identification and assessment techniques
• Understand how best to use risk and issue logs/registers
• Know how best to respond to risks and issues and monitor implementation
• Use best practice reporting techniques

What will it cover?

Understanding the Fundamentals of Risk and Issue Management

• Appreciating the differences between risks and issues
• The key principles supporting effective risk and issue management
• The essential roles and responsibilities of risk and issue management

Creating the Key Documentation

• The importance of risk management policies and procedures
• Writing a risk management plan

Using the Risk and Issue Management Processes

• Creating simple but effective processes to manage risks and issues
• Understanding the key steps in each process
• The relevance of examining opportunities and not just threats

Planning and Conducting Risk Workshops and Risk Reviews

• Knowing the structure of risk workshops and risk reviews
• Appreciating when to conduct workshops and reviews
• Understanding who to involve
• The most common identification and assessment techniques
• How to select the most appropriate techniques
• Being clear about the desired outputs of your workshops and reviews

Managing Risks and Issues during the Implementation Phase

• Understanding the need to manage some risks and issues informally
• The value of risk early warning indicators
• Using the risk and issue logs/registers to best effect
• The importance of managing by exception

Reporting on Risks and Issues

• Using effective reporting methods
• What to report, when and to whom