There is no such thing as a dragon

“There is no such thing as a dragon” A few quick techniques to add to your arsenal for common sense risk management Stacy Taylor President stacy@red-mt. com Laura Lott COO and Senior Consultant laura@red-mt. com

Stacy Taylor President, Red Mountain Services Laura Lott COO & Senior Consultant, Red Mountain Services

Risk Identification

Risk identification technique • Brainstorming ▫ 5 -10 minutes for each team member to write a list of risks they feel the project is facing ▫ Round robin, ask each member to contribute 1 idea ▫ Keep going around the room until ideas are exhausted ▫ No discussion, just add each idea to the flip chart/shared Word doc

Idea List • • Contracts held up in legal delay the start date Power is out Resource is out unexpectedly on medical leave New technology appears that outdates solution Only one team member knows the technology A dragon appears Price increase for contractors Vendor compensation not tied to project milestones

Mom!

Prioritize • • Contracts held up in legal delay the start date*** Power is out Resource is out unexpectedly on medical leave*** New technology appears that outdates solution Only one team member knows the technology*** A dragon appears*** Price increase for contractors Vendor compensation not tied to project milestones***

Do Nothing

Denial is a powerful thing

Risk Reserve Techniques • If then strategy • Calculating a risk reserve

Idea List • If Contracts held up in legal delay the start date then resources allocated to start on that date may be put on other projects • If Resource is out unexpectedly on medical leave then inadequate resources will be assigned to those tasks • If Only one team member knows the technology then project schedule will slip for every day they are unavailable • If A dragon appears then it may extend cleaning time of the house • If Vendor compensation not tied to project milestones then vendor may not work overtime if needed

Management Reserve

Crisis Management

Crisis Management Technique • Open Conference Line • War Room Implementation • Communicate Often

Coming to terms with risk

Risk Reporting Technique • Dashboard • Quadrant • Risk Log

Risk Quadrant Technique 1 Impact High Impact Low Probability High Impact High Probability 3 2 Low Impact Low Probability 4 Low Impact High Probability 5 Probability

The takeaways

References Kent, Jack (1976) There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon

More Information Stacy Taylor stacy@red-mt. com Laura Lott laura@red-mt. com