PMI – Austin ChapterPMI – Austin Chapter

March 25, 2003March 25, 2003

“Brainstorming for Risk Response Planning”

Presented by

Chester Sparks, PMP

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Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives• Understand Why PM’s Avoid Risk Management

• Understand the Benefits of Brainstorming

• Learn How to Plan a Brainstorming Workshop

• Learn How to Conduct a Brainstorming Workshop

• Learn How to Document the Risk Response Plan

• Understand Post-Workshop Follow-Up Tasks

• Q & A

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Why PM’s Avoid Risk ManagementWhy PM’s Avoid Risk Management

• “My project won’t kill anybody”

• “Failure is not an option!!!”

• “We’ve done this type of project before”

• “We are finished with planning, so our focus now is execution”

• “Risk is inevitable, so why bother”

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Why Not Use Brainstorming?Why Not Use Brainstorming?

“Brainstorming is probably the most frequently used risk identification technique. The goal is to obtain a comprehensive list of risks that can be addressed later in the qualitative and quantitative risk analysis processes.”

Source – “A Guide to the PMBOK”, section 11.2.2.2

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Risk Management ProcessesRisk Management Processes

Risk ManagementRisk Management

PlanningPlanning

Risk IdentificationRisk Identification QualitativeQualitative

Risk AnalysisRisk Analysis

Quantitative Quantitative

Risk AnalysisRisk Analysis

Risk ResponseRisk Response

PlanningPlanning

Risk MonitoringRisk Monitoring

& Control& Control

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Brainstorming BenefitsBrainstorming Benefits

• More Brains, More and Better Ideas

• Consensus and Buy-in

• Ownership and Responsibility

• Delegation !!!

• Decreased Cost and Time

• Stakeholder Education

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Plan the WorkshopPlan the Workshop

1) Secure Sponsor Support

2) Secure Commitments from the Stakeholders

3) Define and Document Risk Tolerances

4) Find a Neutral, Third Party Facilitator

5) Find a Scribe

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Plan the Workshop Cont’dPlan the Workshop Cont’d

6) Prepare Workshop Guidelines

7) Prepare Prompt Slides

8) Arrange Logistics

9) Send Meeting Invitation and Scope Info

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Brainstorming - CollectionBrainstorming - Collection

• One Person, One Idea

• No Criticisms / Questions / Debate

• Build on Other’s Ideas

• Let Your Imagination Soar

• Go for Volume

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Brainstorming – Review and ClarificationBrainstorming – Review and Clarification

• Start at the Top – One Item at a Time

• Do Not Look Forward

• Clarify Words Until Consensus

• Define Unclear Terms in a Glossary

No One Person Owns a Brainstormed Idea

What This Means

To Me . . .

OUR IDEA

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Conduct the Workshop - AgendaConduct the Workshop - Agenda

1) Agenda, Introductions and Workshop Guidelines

2) Project Overview – Sponsor

3) Scope Statement Info – Review for Questions

4) Risk Management Definitions / Process – Review

5) Risk Tolerances – Review

6) Brainstorm the Risks

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Conduct the Workshop – Agenda Cont’dConduct the Workshop – Agenda Cont’d

7) Review and Clarify the Risks

• Document the Cause

• Identify Cost / Schedule / Quality Impact

• Identify Probability of Occurrence / Impact

8) Develop Mitigating and Contingent Actions

• Brainstorm, Clarify and Select Mitigating Actions

• Brainstorm, Clarify and Select Contingent Actions

• Assign Responsibility for Monitoring

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Conduct the Workshop – Agenda Cont’dConduct the Workshop – Agenda Cont’d

9) Workshop Wrap-up

• Identify Tasks / Next Steps

• Participant Evaluation / Feedback

• Adjourn Meeting

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Capture the InformationCapture the Information

Risk Potential Impact

Prob / Impact

Mitigating Action

(covered in project schedule)

Contingent Action Resp. Person

Costs Schedule Quality

H (high) M (med) L (low)

This project is dependent on two other projects to deliver critical data interfaces, and these projects may fall behind schedule

C S

M / H Provide interface specifications with ample lead time for other projects to develop and test interfaces

The other two projects are the single source for Customer data, so the only option would be to delay the testing and go live schedule

Interface Team Lead

The existing telecom network may not provide adequate bandwidth to support the transaction volume expected during peak processing periods, which could delay processing of credit card applications

C S Q

H / H Document the existing bandwidth at all sites running the application and upgrade sites that do not provide the bandwidth recommended by the vendor

Execute a network stress test during acceptance testing

Temporarily move credit card application processing from smaller sites to major sites until the bandwidth problem is solved

Telecom Lead

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Sample Risk Tolerances Sample Risk Tolerances

Impact:

• High–Deviation of Cost, Schedule, Quality > 10%

• Medium–Deviation of Cost, Schedule, Quality 5–10%

• Low – Deviation of Cost, Schedule, Quality < 5%

Probability:

• High > 50% (More likely to happen than not)

• Medium 20–50% (Fairly likely to happen)

• Low - <20% (Not likely to happen)

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Mitigation and Contingency DefinitionsMitigation and Contingency Definitions

• Mitigation – An action taken to reduce or eliminate the probability of a risk occurring

Example: Building a levee system to contain a river during heavy rains to prevent flooding

• Contingency – An action taken after a risk event has occurred to reduce the impact

Example: Developing an evacuation plan if the levee system fails to contain the river during heavy rains

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Post Workshop TasksPost Workshop Tasks

• Determine the Need for Quantitative Risk Analysis

• Finalize the Risk Response Plan

• Determine Contingency Reserves Needed

• Update the Project Plan

• Distribute the Risk Response Plan

• Initiate Risk Monitoring and Control

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Questions ?Questions ?

Chester.Sparks@JADCoreLLC.comChester.Sparks@JADCoreLLC.com

http://JADCoreLLC.comhttp://JADCoreLLC.com