No project is without some risk. The best way to identify
risks is through a combination of checklists and brainstorming. Checklists
allow you to catch the typical risks that might be inherent in projects like
yours. A team brainstorming session allows you to find risks that are specific
to your particular project. You might end up identifying dozens of risks
through a combination of checklists and brainstorming.
After you identify all the risks, you must figure out which
ones are important enough for you to address (risk analysis). You want to
classify each risk it in terms of high risk, medium risk, or low risk. You do
that by looking at the likelihood that the risk will occur and the impact of
the risk on the project if it does occur. For example, a risk that is highly
likely to occur and has a high impact to the project would definitively be a
high category risk. On the other hand, a risk that is not likely to occur and
has a small impact to the project if it does occur would definitively be a
low-level risk. All other combinations fall somewhere in the middle of this
continuum. The following list gives you the various combinations based on the
impact to the project (high, medium, low) and the likelihood of the risk
occurring (high, medium, low)
|
Likelihood |
Impact |
Overall risk level |
|
High |
High |
High |
|
High |
Medium |
Medium |
|
High |
Low |
Low |
|
Medium |
High |
High |
|
Medium |
Medium |
Medium |
|
Medium |
Low |
Medium/Low |
|
Low |
High |
Medium/Low |
|
Low |
Medium |
Low |
|
Low |
Low |
Low |
This is one example of how you can categorize risks as being
high, medium or low, based on the likelihood of occurrence and the impact.
There are many other techniques as well. These high-level risks should be
managed. The low level risks can be ignored. The medium-level risks should be
evaluated individually. You might need to respond to some while others can be
ignored for
Analyzing each risk allows you to determine which ones are
important enough to manage. This analysis save you the wasted time associated
with managing risks that are better documented, but ignored.
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