project - Blog - Global Risk Community2024-03-28T16:03:45Zhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/projectWhen Physical Office Becomes Passe, Are We Ready for Virtual Teams?https://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/hen-physical-office-becomes-passe-are-we-ready-for-virtual-teams2020-03-18T06:30:00.000Z2020-03-18T06:30:00.000ZJoseph Robinsonhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/JosephRobinson808<div><blockquote><p>Richard Branson, British business and philanthropist once said: “One day, offices will be a thing of the past.”<a href="http://flevy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pic-1-Virtual-Teams-Challenges-Benefits-200x300.jpeg" target="_blank"><img src="http://flevy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pic-1-Virtual-Teams-Challenges-Benefits-200x300.jpeg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="200" class="align-right" alt="pic-1-Virtual-Teams-Challenges-Benefits-200x300.jpeg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p></blockquote><p>While organizations still need to travel to reach their physical offices, the rapid changes in the world are requiring businesses to form <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013">Virtual Teams</a>. A Virtual Team refers to a group of individuals who work together from different geographic locations and rely on communication technology such as email, voice conferencing services, fax, etc.</p><p>Virtual Teams work well for an organization and is effective even from a communication perspective. In fact, it is known to complement well the <a href="https://flevy.com/lean-management">Lean Management</a> approach used by organizations. Studies from previous years have shown that well-managed, widely spread, Virtual Teams have been outperforming those that share office space. In fact, it has shown that using Virtual Teams can improve employee productivity by 45%.</p><p>In today’s highly competitive global economy, to be able to work smarter, organizations must be able to leverage the manifold benefits of a remote workforce. Likewise, organizations must also be able to manage challenges that come with working with Virtual Teams.</p><h3>The <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013">4 Core Challenges of Going Virtual</a></h3><p>More organizations are opting to work with virtual teams. Virtual teams may have their benefits but it also has its challenges. Being able to manage these challenges will enable organizations to seize the benefits of remote workers.</p><p><a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013" target="_blank"><img src="http://flevy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pic-2-Virtual-Teams-Challenges-and-Benefits.png?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="750" class="align-full" alt="pic-2-Virtual-Teams-Challenges-and-Benefits.png?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><br /> There are 4 core challenges that organizations face when working with Virtual Teams. Let us take a look at the 2 core challenges.</p><ol><li><strong>Virtual Communication</strong>. Having different time zones can be a challenge. This can lead to layers of complexity to the logistics of everyday communication. When time zones do not match, it can lead to less and less information being transmitted and can cause miscommunication. When working in a different time zone, there is a tendency to exchange information using email or instant messaging. But these may not be enough as it cannot convey as much meaning compared to vocal tone, facial expression, and physical gestures.</li></ol><ol start="2"><li><strong>Virtual Project Management</strong>. When working with virtual teams, the business must have a proper system and people in place. Virtual <a href="https://flevy.com/business-toolkit/project-management-pm">Project Management</a> may cause some confusion and even delays. While digital tools are in place to facilitate remote project management and collaboration, it can be difficult at times to tell what each person is contributing. In fact, organizations need to put up a system to track whether the members of the virtual team are doing their required tasks.</li></ol><p>In this digital era, Virtual Teams are becoming the new face of business operation and aligning itself with <a href="https://flevy.com/digital-transformation">Digital Transformation</a>. This is a global reality that businesses must accept. However, working with Virtual Teams brings a lot of challenges not only in Project Management and <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013">Virtual Communication</a> but also in Talent Development and Technology Support. Talent Development and Technology Support are two other core challenges that can make an impact on the Virtual Team. How it is managed will define the success of your Virtual Team.</p><p>In hindsight, Virtual Teams can also bring so many benefits. Hence, it is not surprising that despite the challenges, a lot of businesses still prefer to work with Virtual Teams.</p><p>One core benefit is increased access to top talent. The world has become a global market for expertise and talents. Businesses can extend their reach to other countries in their search for needed expertise. In fact, working with virtual teams will open opportunities for businesses to work with experts in various fields with various experiences. Being able to employ the best and the brightest is more than enough for businesses to continue working with Virtual Teams and conquering challenges. Businesses just need to have appropriate support programs to give Virtual Teams a home-field advantage.</p><p>Interested in gaining more understanding of <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013">the challenges & benefits of Virtual Teams</a>? You can learn more and download an <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/virtual-teams-challenges-and-benefits-4013">editable PowerPoint about <strong>Virtual Teams: Challenges & Benefits</strong> here</a> on the <a href="https://flevy.com/browse">Flevy documents marketplace</a>.</p><p><strong>Are you a management consultant?</strong></p><p>You can download this and hundreds of other <a href="http://flevy.com/pro/library/frameworks">consulting frameworks</a> and <a href="http://flevy.com/pro/library/consulting">consulting training guides</a> from the <a href="http://flevy.com/pro/library">FlevyPro library</a>.</p></div>The tomorrow of project portfolio management: Through the eyes of presenthttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/the-tomorrow-of-project-portfolio-management-through-the-eyes-of2020-01-24T07:40:28.000Z2020-01-24T07:40:28.000ZKBV Researchhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/KBVResearch<div><p><a href="https://www.kbvresearch.com/project-portfolio-management-market/"><strong>Project portfolio management</strong></a> is not a new phenomenon. We all do it as technology executives, and we're likely to be good at it based on traditional norms. The environment of project management has been constantly evolving. Given how market fluctuations control people, processes, and projects, the introduction of a new strategy for project execution is equivalent to stabbing uncertainty.</p><p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The term: Project portfolio management</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028306059,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028306059,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="242" height="261" alt="8028306059?profile=original" /></a></strong></span></p><p>Project portfolio management is the art and science of making investment mix choices, organizational constraints, allocation of resources, project priority and schedule. It includes comprehension of the portfolio's strengths and weaknesses, forecasting opportunities and risks, matching investments to goals, and maximizing trade-offs experienced to maximize returns, i.e. outcomes over assets, in given risk appetite, i.e., uncertainty about returns.</p><p>Before the digital transformation, portfolio managers' primary goal was to optimize technology output delivery under budget and schedule. This IT-centered policy emphasized consumption over output and risk over return. Besides, the conventional IT financial framework was simply a cost-recovery model that was not appropriate for portfolio managers to explain how business outcomes on technology investments could be maximized. As a result, portfolio management has been marginalized to bureaucratic overhead and a good-to-have extension of the function of program management.</p><p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Project portfolio management- The trends of the present that shape the future</strong></span></p><ol><li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>The face of project portfolio management- until 2018</strong></span></li></ol><p>It comes to no surprise that for most PMOs in 2017, execution remained a major point of focus. Moving on, however, succeeding years showed a slight transition in the distribution compared to previous years. While most PMOs were still hyper-focused on delivering on-time and on-budget programs, the importance of generating business value was also recognized. The PMO is in the perfect position to create business value with transformation initiatives becoming more common in the project mix.</p><p>Several trends were identified in the Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) arena in 2018. Several developments came straight from advancements in IT, providing exciting opportunities to gain expertise in the Project Management Office (PMO). Some movements were more subtle, requiring "softer" changes and seeking to unite the PMO cohesively. Together, these trends have shaped PPM as we know it into a system that allows the digital transformation era to change.</p><ol start="2"><li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>What did the year 2019 bring for project portfolio management?</strong></span></li></ol><ul><li><span style="font-size:10pt;"><strong>Agile and Waterfall</strong></span></li></ul><p>The increasing complexity of the project has contributed to the reconsideration of the basic methods of project management. For this purpose, classic waterfall projects aren't always the ideal response to manage activities, resourcing, costs, and facilities in fast-paced environments. The acceleration has facilitated the use of agile project management methodologies that are especially committed to innovation-driven efforts. These include mobile application design, new functionality developments, and new medical-pharmaceutical tools.</p><ul><li><span style="font-size:10pt;"><strong>Organization resourcing</strong></span></li></ul><p>Until recently, resource management has never been considered necessary for project portfolio management in large organizations. Skills have been at stake, not the individual. Things have changed over the period; resource availability is a barrier now. For hierarchical organizations and larger programs, what was appropriate for small projects is certainly unthinkable. The project manager has to work closely with functional management to check the organization's ability to provide the required capabilities (individuals and skills, costs, facilities, etc.) to ensure that the project runs as planned.</p><ul><li><span style="font-size:10pt;"><strong>Remote work, global and virtual teams</strong></span></li></ul><p>The project teams are now applying more and more diversified hard and soft skill sets in addition to the increasing complexity of the projects. Project teams are becoming more multi-geographic and multicultural. Due to cost, environmental awareness and work-life balance issues, it is no longer justified to have everyone around the same table.</p><p>The virtual concept implies that there is now a commonplace for remote teams. As a consequence, the element of communication is crucial to the success of a team. The project manager must have strong ideologies of remote management and master the new communication and data sharing concepts. The project manager also needs to improve the capacity within these virtual teams to promote unity under these conditions.</p><ol start="3"><li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>The future coming through 2019</strong></span></li></ol><p>The transition of PMOs from cost centers to profit centers. PMOs must acquire high-end consulting capabilities and provide competitive services to business units. PMOs will focus on an 'outside-in' perspective and move away from the perspective of' inside-out.' PMO drivers are going to be around consumers, markets and the economy, not just internal efficiencies.</p><p>Projects may begin to be found in various business functions where they may not very often occur, such as sales, marketing, partnerships, human resources, etc. To deliver better results in their respective functions, marketing managers, sales managers, HR managers, finance managers and the like must acquire project management skills.</p><p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Summing up…</strong></span></p><p>The <a href="https://www.kbvresearch.com/project-portfolio-management-market/"><strong>project portfolio management market</strong></a> is expected to grow with immense penetration of connected devices in emerging economies. If project management implies doing it right all the time, it means doing the right things at the right time. Usually, an organization has business goals and plans.</p><p>Each department may suggest, sponsor or execute projects to help the organization achieve these business objectives. As a result, everyone would compete for a limited source of resources and funds. Senior executives use portfolio management to assist in selecting, optimizing and overseeing project investments to ensure that approved projects align with the company's goals, strategies, and timelines.</p><p>It's not a surprise that artificial intelligence is becoming incredibly popular and common in the workforce. Project teams have always been pushed to execute projects faster and more efficiently, and this challenge has driven the development of project portfolio management (PPM) software to further simplify project managers' work. It speeds up project managers' execution and delivery.</p><p>This emerging technology offers many benefits to businesses in all sectors and provides immense potential.</p></div>Project Management Quoteshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/project-management-quotes2015-11-08T20:49:12.000Z2015-11-08T20:49:12.000ZEnrique Raul Suarezhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/EnriqueRaulSuarez<div><p></p><p style="text-align:center;"></p><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028237889,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028237889,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="111" class="align-center" alt="8028237889?profile=original" /></a></p><p style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;">Source:</p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.12manage.com/" target="_blank">www.12manage.com</a></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out nor more doubtful of success nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Machiavelli 1446-1507, Italian statesman and philosopher</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>The real problem is what to do with problem solvers after the problem is solved</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Gay Talese 1932-, American (Italian-born) journalist</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950, Irish playwright and critic</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Chinese Proverb</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Samuel Johnson 1709-1784, English lexicographer</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>A goal without a plan is just a wish</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Antoine de Saint Exupéry 1900-1944, French writer and aviator</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="http://www.12manage.com/description_sun_tzu_art_of_war.html" target="_blank">Sun Tzu</a> c. 490 BC, Chinese military strategist</em></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong>This feeling, finally, that we may change things - this is at the centre of everything we are. Lose that... lose everything</strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><em>Sir David Hare 1947-, British playwright and author of many satires</em></p><p class="center"></p></div>Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspectivehttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/risk-based-management-in-the-world-of-threats-and-opportunities2015-07-02T22:30:00.000Z2015-07-02T22:30:00.000ZRUFRAN C. FRAGOhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/RUFRANCFRAGO<div><p>What is risk-based management (RBM) to you? Do you have a good understanding of this concept, and how it is applied? Do you think what you have right now is the best? Do you think that RBM is the best and only approach? Do you think it is one of the best? How do you apply it in project management?</p><blockquote>RBM is serious approach and a philosophy that considers risks while managing any project endeavor throughout its lifecycle. Management by objectives is still present, but with more focus on risk management. Risk-based management increases the probability of success. In order to appreciate this management approach requires an in-depth understanding of risk itself. This is what the book is about-“Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective.”</blockquote><p>We attribute the high failure rate of projects to a combination of factors, namely a lack of support from business leadership, incompetent project managers, and a firms’ unwillingness to treat a project as they would a start-up business. If you think this is all there is it to it, then you are in for a surprise. There are more where they came from. I have seen many of these things while in different roles after decades long of exposure across industries.</p><p>Of course, it is very clear that a project cancelled before it is fully completed is a failure. The degree of failure depends on how much stakeholder money and other resources have already been used and wasted. We must also consider the cascade effects of such failure to any company's bottom line. Crossing the bottom line can result to layoffs, across the board budget cuts, low dividend returns for stockholders, loss of reputation, and decreased stock price to name a few.</p><blockquote>Risk-based management describes the available choices and options considered against their associated risks. Actions become possible when we are sure that we adequately comprehend the risks before us. Looking at how other types of management work makes the risk-based concept ideal, since it is a simple perspective that can easily integrate other concepts.</blockquote><p>Decisions evolve from a situation where one has to make a choice. The option can be to do or not to do something. It can also be to select one option from a range of options. The most important objectives drive final decision. It is constrained by any, or combination of social, technical, business, safety, and environmental factors. Successful decision-making requires an understanding of each of these factors and objectives (RiskTec, 2013).</p><p>There are professionals who have difficulty accepting the term "risk-based." It simply means that risk should be the main contemplation, while keeping an eye to achieving business objectives. It is therefore a foundational concern in the pursuit of a goal. Pursuing a goal naturally results in risk management. This is how we end up with risk management. Under this paradigm, the concern revolves around the decisions we need to make, i.e. whether to avoid or mitigate in the case of a threat, and whether to enhance or exploit in the case of an opportunity.</p><blockquote>Risk is not only a factor or featured element of management; it is the central concept at play. It should be the focus of management, second only (if not equal) to the main objectives. An excellent risk manager will see clearly that the objectives and end deliverables are part of the risk. They are the grand consequences of the positive risks (opportunities) identified, and the very reason why the project was initiated.</blockquote><blockquote>Risk-based management is as important as the objectives. Failing to mitigate the risk means failure to meet the objectives. When that happens, the risk is on equal footing and of the same importance as the objectives. I trust that you will find this book helpful as you proceed addressing the challenges of your own risk universe.</blockquote><p>The paperback and Kindle edition of the book "Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective" is now available in Amazon.</p><p>Copy and paste the following on your browser. You can grab a copy now.</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/RUFRAN-C.-FRAGO-PMI-RMP/e/B01055MPYI">http://www.amazon.com/RUFRAN-C.-FRAGO-PMI-RMP/e/B01055MPYI</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0104OFUDI/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0104OFUDI/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/risk-based-management-world-threats-opportunities-rufran?trk=prof-post">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/risk-based-management-world-threats-opportunities-rufran?trk=prof-post</a></li></ul><p><br /> The book provides new/additional knowledge to project management practitioners (beginners to experts), risk management specialists, project controls people, estimators, cost managers, planners and schedulers, and for students of undergraduate courses in Risk Management. The sectional contents offer practical and common sense approach to identifying/managing risks. It is a must have for company managers, directors, supervisors, aspiring industry professionals, and even those students fresh from high school. The material is especially design to start with the foundational principles of risk gradually bringing the reader to deeper topics using a conversational style with simple terminologies.</p><p>So, if you are interested, check it out!</p><p class="left"><strong>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Risk-based-Management-inthe-Threats-Opportunities-ebook/dp/B0104OFUDI/ref=la_B01055MPYI_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434945458&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Frago, R., 2015.Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective</a></strong></p><p class="center"> </p><p class="center"><br /> <strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=Z9SQXHR9LXA4&R=10YCMQRLICM7H&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fauthor%2Frufrancfrago%3Fref_%3Dpe_1724030_132998060&A=SHKUDSOA5BQTJRY1TADJKFJYBIEA&H=YUGL9IOOH6TT8ZI36NNNVAAFPUGA&ref_=pe_1724030_132998060" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/auth</a></strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=Z9SQXHR9LXA4&R=10YCMQRLICM7H&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fauthor%2Frufrancfrago%3Fref_%3Dpe_1724030_132998060&A=SHKUDSOA5BQTJRY1TADJKFJYBIEA&H=YUGL9IOOH6TT8ZI36NNNVAAFPUGA&ref_=pe_1724030_132998060" target="_blank"></a><strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=Z9SQXHR9LXA4&R=10YCMQRLICM7H&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fauthor%2Frufrancfrago%3Fref_%3Dpe_1724030_132998060&A=SHKUDSOA5BQTJRY1TADJKFJYBIEA&H=YUGL9IOOH6TT8ZI36NNNVAAFPUGA&ref_=pe_1724030_132998060" target="_blank">or/rufrancfrago</a></strong></p><p><strong>Rufran C. Frago (050715) - Author</strong></p><p>Other articles authored by Rufran Frago:</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/risks-surrounding-canadas-tfw-part-1-rufran?trk=prof-post" target="_blank">Risks Surrounding Canada’s TFW Part 1</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/risk-function-time-rufran-frago-p-eng-pmp-ccp-pmi-rmp-?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">Risks as a Function of Time</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/project-schedule-p50-anyone-rufran-frago-p-eng-pmp-ccp-pmi-rmp-?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">Project Schedule: P50, Anyone?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/changing-culture-your-organization-rufran?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">Changing the Culture of Your Organization</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/person-perceives-others-based-his-own-interests-rufran?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">A Person Perceives Others Based on His Own Interest</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-management-motivate-empower-employees-rufran?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">How Can Management Motivate and Empower?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-managers-increase-leadership-effectiveness-rufran?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">How Can Managers Increase Leadership Effectiveness</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/risks-surrounding-canadas-tfw-part-2-rufran?trk=prof-post" target="_blank"><span>Risks Surrounding Canada’s TFW Part 2</span></a></li></ol><p> </p><p> <img width="279" height="445" class="left" alt="" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAKVAAAAJDdkZTVlMmM2LWRiNWMtNDc0Yi1hNGEzLTkxZWE4ZGY1NTExNw.png" /></p></div>Is Agile for Dummies?https://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/is-agile-for-dummies2014-06-22T23:30:00.000Z2014-06-22T23:30:00.000ZBryan Whitefieldhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/BryanWhitefield<div><p><span style="font-family:helvetica;color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span>I have said more than once that the IT industry has much to be blamed for in terms of poor project delivery. I wrote a <a href="http://www.rmpartners.com.au/images/stories/pdf/Making%20Project%20Risk%20Management%20Make%20a%20Difference.pdf?inf_contact_key=09c2728bb5d5da4525cc17ef0bfc783141bd05d9ca1203cbb804f9055563d806" target="_blank">discussion paper on Project Risk Management</a> where I lead off with “Why could we land a man on the moon in 1969 yet in 2013 we struggle to get a moderate sized IT project delivered successfully? – An acceptance of mediocrity?”<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" />I recently read <a href="https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/signup.do?source=swg-rtl-sd-wp&S_CMP=Google-Search-SWG-Rational-EB-1022&S_TACT=102P382W&S_PKG=500026415&cmp=102P3&ct=102P382W&cr=google&cm=k&csr=Agile_for_Dummies-Search&ccy=us&ck=agile%20for%20dummies&cs=e&mkwid=sgPoImMZ6-dc_37617904676_43246d30503&inf_contact_key=d79a44ab2ffb0c77553c78bacf4bdffba8068e4651ce3b57490a3890338969d5" target="_blank">“Agile for Dummies”</a>published by IBM and authored by Scott W. Ambler and Matthew Holitza, which is about mastering Agile, a project management methodology for IT projects (by the way, it’s free). It reminded me of a conversation I had with a mate about project management that made me realise we really do not learn enough from other industries. My mate was a very experienced project manager in the major construction industry. Later in his career he found himself managing a large non-construction project for an organisation and he told me that they thought he was an absolute genius because he introduced two week project planning within the longer-term 12 month project plan. Of course, this is how he had learnt the trade of project management, he never knew any other way.<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" />The truth is that the Agile IT project management technique, whether by accident or because they went looking, is based on short, such as two week, development windows. Where it differs from a construction project is their focus on delivering working software every two weeks whereas that focus can’t apply to building a 30-storey building!<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" />Now all the Agile community needs to get right is some good risk assessment methodologies and the IT industry really will have learnt to do things well. They may exist, however, I have not found an IT team that was doing risk assessment well before I arrived (sorry clients!), and IBM’s paper did not fill me full of confidence. It does recognise “project risk” throughout and they do provide tips on how to reduce it. In fact, they mention risk management as one of the “things” to be focussed on at the right time, but include nothing about how to do it.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:helvetica;color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span><a href="http://www.rmpartners.com.au">www.rmpartners.com.au</a></span></span></span></p><p></p></div>Antifragile - Dose Responsehttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/antifragile-dose-response2013-08-14T07:30:00.000Z2013-08-14T07:30:00.000ZMartin Davieshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/MartinDavies92<div><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2"><span>In this posting we take a look at </span><strong><span class="font-size-3">Nassim Taleb's video</span></strong><span> and show a </span><strong><span class="font-size-3">working example of the Sigmoid function in R Project</span></strong><span>.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">Many risk practitioners approach the quantification of risk by convoluting frequency and magnitude curves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">The Sigmoid concept which is at the heart of Antifragile, looks at risk differently. It breaks up a system into various states of Fragile and Robust, then brings them back together as a single function of risk.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">More can be found here [ <span style="color:#0000ff;"><a href="http://goo.gl/gUodzv" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0000ff;">LINK</span></a></span> ]</span></p></div>ISO 31000 for Property Developmenthttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/iso-31000-for-property-development2012-07-26T09:30:00.000Z2012-07-26T09:30:00.000ZMartin Davieshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/MartinDavies92<div><p><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2">In this short journal post, we share a presentation that reviews some of the problems of risk management in property development, how risk management currently functions in this industry sector and why it would be advantageous to adopt ISO 31000 in property development.</span></p><p><span style="color:#0000ff;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-2"><a href="http://causalcapital.blogspot.sg/2012/07/iso-31000-for-property-development.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0000ff;">Click here to continue reading</span></a></span></p></div>Top 5 Project Risk Management Practiceshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/top-5-project-risk-management-practices2012-05-08T05:30:00.000Z2012-05-08T05:30:00.000ZSteven Minskyhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/StevenMinsky<div><p>Project change management involves new IT systems, new products, and new markets, or reacting to a change in the business environment, such as regulatory or competitive actions. Project risk management is about identifying new risks or changes in the threat level of existing business processes. The challenge for project managers is how to get teams, functional areas, business processes, systems, and vendors aligned to new goals; moreover, how to get the needed transparency into the activities that have been agreed upon in project execution and how to prioritize the issues that surface every step of the way, until the project is completed. Project risk management is all about using project risk assessments as a method to gain a holistic view of risks across functions and silos. A project management office (PMO) needs this holistic view of risk to help serve their clients, which involves coordinating with multiple stakeholders and many moving parts. <br /> <br /> The benefits of imbedding project risk management are specific and measurable. The PMO can reduce budget overruns and missed deadlines—their biggest concerns—if uncertain project events are dealt with in a proactive manner, directly translating to the organization’s bottom line. Helping the PMO to formalize their risk management practices dramatically reduces the team’s stress of “fighting fires” by repairing damage due to preventable risks before they manifest.</p><p><strong>Step 1: Formalize Project Risk Management: </strong>Every project manager is already using risk management techniques in their job informally. Relay to project managers that not formalizing this existing work with methodology and software is as inefficient as doing project schedule in their head as they go along and not using a Gantt chart software package. Studies have shown that formalizing risk management reduces overall project management task work by 30-60%.</p><p><strong>Step 2: Project Risk Analysis: </strong>Risk managers can help project managers very early on in their process. The first step in project risk management is to identify the risks that are present in projects. A <strong><a href="http://www.logicmanager.com/erm-software/knowledge-center/best-practice-articles/risk-identification/">root cause approach</a></strong> enables managers to understand the cause of risk and connect this to the effect of not managing this risk. </p><p>Failed projects show that project managers were frequently unaware of the root cause until it was too late. The frightening finding is that frequently someone in the project actually knew the root cause, but didn't have the structure to inform the project manager of the issue. Risk Managers can provide PMOs with this missing structure and methodology.</p><p>For example, a major concern for project managers is “Missed deadlines/project cost over-runs,” which is the outcome, or effect, of a particular risk. . The key is to help them figure out what the cause of this outcome is, of which there can be many. Until the cause is identified, it will be hard to know what action needs to be taken. Not using root cause techniques will result in risks identified like, “Schedule rigidity,” which does not provide them the ability to determine where the source of the schedule issue lies - i s it a people, process, system, or vendor issue? Each of these sources of risk can cause schedule rigidity, and until they know which of these categories is causing the issue, action is still unclear. Risk Management software can provide project managers a library of root cause choices such as, “Stakeholders unwilling to act or move,” which let’s them know it’s a people problem verses “Inefficient, non-value added workflow,” which let’s them know it is a process issue at hand to prompt project managers to think about the type of risk which greatly simplifies the important step of acting on the risk.</p><p><strong>Step 3: Prioritize with project risk assessments:</strong> As risk managers know, treating all risks equally wastes a lot of time and effort. Some risks have a higher impact and greater likelihood of occurring than others. Through formal risk assessments, risk managers can help project management offices prioritize where time and resources are better spent based on the risks that can cause the biggest losses and gains. By giving them standardized enterprise-wide evaluation criteria that applies to all risks and all projects, they will not only be able to prioritize risks within each of their projects and be able to prioritize time to the tasks associated with the largest risks across all of their projects; but their assessments seamlessly integrated into your ERM efforts. You can find <strong><a href="http://www.logicmanager.com/erm-software/risk-assessment-template.php" title="risk assessment template">risk assessment template</a></strong> guidance here that explains how to standardize your assessment criteria to prioritize risk.</p><p><strong>Step 4: Business Process Improvement: </strong>The structure that risk management offers provides the ability for project managers to make clear who is responsible for what risk. The solution is simple: based on the priority score of Step 3, they can assign a risk owner for each high risks and goals that have been assessed. The risk owner is the person on the team who has the responsibility to plan activities. Ownership also exists on another level; if a project threat occurs, someone has to be held responsible. This sounds logical, but it is an issue that has to be addressed before a risk occurs, especially if different business units, departments and suppliers are involved in the project. An important side effect of clarifying the ownership of risk effects, is that line managers start to pay attention to a project. The ownership issue is equally important with project opportunities. </p><p><strong>Step 5: <a href="http://www.logicmanager.com/grc-software/project-risk-management/" target="_blank">Project Risk Management Software</a>:</strong> Some project managers think they are done once they have created a list with risks and mitigation activities. The real value risk management provides is achieved by using those risks to get transparency into the true progress of a project, which is challenging. For example, 50% expenditure of budget or time does not necessarily translate into 50% achievement of goals. Progress means mitigation of the risks, achievement of the goals, and compliance with regulatory or internal standards.</p><p>Unfortunately, lots of project teams struggle to cross the finish line, being overloaded with tasks that need to be done quickly. Helping them to connecting activities to the risk assessment of Rule 3, means that each of these tasks will get a “priority score” that helps project managers to understand what is most important for follow-up to mitigate risks and achieve goals. Managing risks helps to focus on the current situation of risks and goals. Has the relative importance of risks or goals changed? Project risk management software answers this question and helps project managers pay attention to what matters most for their project to deliver business value.</p><p>The 5 risk rules above give you demonstrate how enterprise risk management techniques and software provide a structure for business process improvement throughout the organization to gain efficiency and quality improvements.</p><p><strong>Watch this 5 minute <a href="http://www.logicmanager.com/streamline-governance-activities-erm-video" target="_blank">video on streamlining risk governance through ERM</a>. Risk management is all about getting clarity on where your organization currently stands and measure the effects of efforts to continuously implement improvements to make it even better.</strong></p></div>Project Risks vs Issues-What's the difference?https://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/project-risks-vs-issues-what-s-the-difference2012-05-02T11:30:00.000Z2012-05-02T11:30:00.000ZAnand Chittoorhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/AnandChittoor<div><p><strong>Risk</strong> and <strong>Issue</strong> are two <a title="words" href="http://www.differencebetween.com/category/people/language/words/">words</a> that are often confused when it comes to their usage. Actually there is some difference between them. The word ‘risk’ is used in the sense of ‘chance’. On the other hand, the word ‘issue’ is used in the sense of ‘matter’.</p><p>Uh-Oh! This is a show-stopper. We can’t complete the project on time because the server needed won’t be available for another month! What can we do now?</p><p>This is not a new problem for Project Managers to have encountered. Is this a risk or an issue? Does it matter? Think of it for a minute. A Risk is an uncertain event. There exists a Probability associated with any Risk (1-100%). An issue does not have this attribute. If something has already happened that affects the project, then it is called an issue. In the example given in the opening paragraph, we are certain that the server we need won’t be available when we need it. This is an issue. An example of a risk would be: “We may not be able to complete the project on time if the server we need does not arrive on time.” In this case, we are not certain that we have a problem yet. Risk versus Issue can be treated as the same as Potentiality versus Actuality.</p><p></p><p>Note that it is recommended that you treat any Risk that has a probability of over 80% as a fact and include it in your Project Management Plan and not Risk Management.</p><p></p><p>To be a project risk it must be something that might affect the cost, schedule, scope, or quality of the project. If a risk will not materialize until after the project is over, then again it is not a risk to the project. It may be a risk to the program or organization, but not to the project. The same is true of an issue. Does it affect the things that a project manager is responsible for? If not, then it should be handled by those responsible for the program or organizational area.</p><p>Being able to distinguish between these is one of the hardest things for project managers understand. It causes problems because risks and issues are dealt with differently and dealing with non-project risks and issues wastes a lot of a project team’s time and energy. The examples given so far are in the scope of the project. Here is an example of a non-project risk:</p><p>“The system we are building is designed for 1000 concurrent users, but if we get more than that it might run slow or even crash.”</p><p>If the project ends when the system is deployed, then this risk will never occur during the project. If the requirements for the system say that it must support 1000 concurrent users and it does, then it is not a project risk, it is scope creep. The risk of actually getting more users than that and the ensuing consequences is the domain of business operations, not the project.</p><p></p><p>The source of this confusion is usually failure to distinguish between a project, a product, and a program. A project delivers what is asked for, often a product. It does not make claims about the value or benefits of the product. That is the domain of the program or product owner. Sometimes the project manager, program manager, and product owner are the same person, but often they are not.</p><p>Risks are documented when they are discovered, most being at the beginning of the project. The probability and impact are assessed and mitigation tasks are added to the project plan. A contingency plan may be created to document what we plan to do should the risk occur. These risks are monitored and updated as needed throughout the project. Should they actually occur, they become issues.</p><p>Issues are problems right now that the project team has to do something about. The actions that we take might involve adding tasks to the plan, extending the schedule or increasing the budget. Issues are tracked and actions are taken until they are resolved and no longer affect the project.</p><p>Handling Risk and Issues appropriately will help the Project team communicate more effectively</p><p><strong>Hence Risk Management is Proactive while Issue Management is Reactive. </strong></p><p>A Risk, once realized <em>could</em> be turned into an issue and tracked. It is important to note that not all Risks are Issues since there will be some Risks that are actually absorbed into a project or program with negligible effects.</p><p>A risk has no effect in its current state, while an issue may be problematic.<br /> Sometimes project managers have to take the risk deliberately because there are greater chances that the organization will benefit from. These are also referred to as Opportunities.</p><p><strong>Question: Then why do companies use Issue Tracking software products for their Risk Management needs?</strong></p><p>Simple answer-To achieve greater project success, they simply should NOT. Issue tracking software is different from Risk Management Software.</p><p><strong> The tools out there for Project Risk Management are of 2 types;</strong></p><ul><li>Quite complex and there is never enough time in the day to understand them well enough to effectively implement good Risk Management practices.</li><li>The same old one-dimensional <strong>Excel spreadsheet."</strong></li></ul><p>In either case, one of the most critical process areas in Project Management (Risk Management) gets neglected. The need of the hour is to find a project risk management solution that is simple to use yet effective to address this deficiency.</p><p></p><p><span><strong><a href="http://www.vue-matrix.com" target="_blank">Vue-Matrix™</a></strong> is a proprietary <strong>web-based</strong> Project Risk Management application that utilizes state of the art technologies to help companies manage their project risks. Vue-Matrix™ helps companies understand their Risk impacts in a tangible form so mitigation or contingency action can be recorded and implemented, thus increasing the chances of project success and saving the company money.</span></p><p><span><strong>Unlimited Users</strong> always and <strong>all plans include all features</strong></span></p><p><strong><a href="http://vue-matrix.com/free.php" target="_blank">Click here for a free 30 day trial</a></strong> (no credit card required).</p><p>Anand Chittoor, PMP, CSM.</p><p><img src="http://www.linkedin.com/img/webpromo/btn_viewmy_160x33.png" width="160" height="33" border="0" alt="View Anand Chittoor, PMP, CSM's profile on LinkedIn" /></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/workstreamz" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @workstreamz</a></p><p><a href="http://www.workstreamz.com" target="_blank">www.workstreamz.com</a></p><p> </p></div>