Innovative Strategies in Risk Management (Audio CD)

David Hulett
Multi-Media Publications Inc. (2005)
ISBN 189518648X
Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (9/06)

An essential component to any project is a strong understanding of risk.  However, the components of risk are often misunderstood and subjective.  Not so anymore!  In this live recording of “Innovative Strategies in Risk Management” David Hulett provides the listener with the tools and processes necessary to understand and quantify risk from both the Project Management team and customer perspective.

With a strong focus on the probability component of risk, the impact is often overlooked.  However, many people and corporations may be impact adverse, meaning they are more interested in minimizing or negating the impact with less regard for the probability.  The example given involved the presenter going into his doctors’ office for immunizations before travelling abroad.  The doctor let him know what immunizations were recommended, stating “Oh, and you can have this other one but your probability of getting it is low.”  When asked what would happen if he were that 1 in 1000 the doctor stated “Oh, you’d die.  But the probability of getting it is only 1 in 1000.”  He got the immunization.

The presentation serves as a strong reminder of the importance of understanding the customer and minimizing assumptions.  By increasing your knowledge of risk and the tools available to better understand and manage risk, you increase the likelihood of customer satisfaction and decrease the likelihood of failure.  The presentation goes into some additional detail on Critical Path Methodology and the importance of using the right tools to manage the schedule.  Of key importance is staying alert to activities with a high risk of delaying the project.  There would have been some value in providing access to the slide presentations as reference is often made to some of the detailed components, however, the listener can still derive much value without them.

“Innovative Strategies in Risk Management” highlights the importance of developing a quantitative process for analyzing and managing risk.  Breaking the analysis down into the three main components of a project, Schedule, Cost, and Scope, further increases value as each project can then assign more importance to one or more areas depending on the needs of the customer.  This presentation provides valuable insight and informative tools for understanding and managing risk in projects.

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