Business Risks


Sometimes in the heat of battle, we become so focused on the project that we fail to see the forest for the trees. We become so busy solving day-to-day problems that we do not recognize risks at higher levels. Business risks affect your customer, your organization, and any other organizations that are stakeholders (other contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and so on). For some examples, consider the following:

  • Does the product you are building provide some kind of competitive advantage for your customer? If so, what will your customer's competition do to counter this advantage? Projects in this situation place a premium on getting the product done on time. This suggests that if difficulties are encountered, scope reduction or added staff may be betterreceived solutions rather than extending the period of performance.

  • Is the project truly the best solution for the client? Is it possible that the project, even if executed to perfection, is not the optimal solution to the client's needs? If this is the case, should you address it, and if so, how?

  • Is the project staffed properly? If the project team must frequently work overtime, or if the team members are working with technologies outside their interest area, turnover could result. Your risk mitigation plan needs to address how to prevent turnover, and also what to do if turnover does occur.

  • Are other projects within the company being raided to effectively staff this one? Are these other projects suffering as a result? If so, how can you address this situation?

  • What are the chances that your bid for the project is significantly too low? Even if your contract is not fixed-price, your company may feel obligated to absorb additional costs.

These sorts of risks are the types of risks your company's executive management is likely to be concerned about. Keep the lines of communication with executive management open for developments related to these kinds of risks.




Project Management with the IBM Rational Unified Process(c) Lessons from the Trenches
Project Management with the IBM Rational Unified Process: Lessons From The Trenches
ISBN: 0321336399
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 166

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