5.7 Uncovering Beneficiary Risk

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This class of risk includes those potential disruptions to the beneficiary environment caused by your project, or project dependencies driven from the beneficiary's end. Needless to say, when addressing customers and beneficiaries, you may feel the need to be a little more tactful with them regarding some of the following questions. Some of these may not be relevant, either; however, once the question gets asked, ensure that answers are commensurate with the perceived risk.

Before proceeding with this set of questions, I need to add a cautionary word. Be wary of responses from this constituency such as "We will take care of it," or "That is our problem." Although we all love it when others take ownership and thus lighten our burden, I would not take those answers to these questions as the final word on the topic. You may feel the need to be apologetic by following up on such statements, but it is very dangerous not to. I take such professions in this context as being blown off because the response suggests denial or lassitude, and does not prove to me that anything proactive will actually get done. So, if I believe a risk is significant enough, I walk through them through the scenario despite their protests, perhaps softening my aggression by stating, "I want to be sure that everyone is comfortable with how we will all behave should this risk come to pass." Exhibit 4 lists effective questions to use for uncovering potential risks to the beneficiary community.

Exhibit 4: Questions for Uncovering Beneficiary Risk

What if the new deliverable does not work?
What if it works poorly?
What if I cannot deliver everything on Day One?
What if the beneficiary provides inadequate data or requirements?
What if we cannot access beneficiary resources whenever we need to?
What if the beneficiary lacks funding for its project deliverables?
What if the beneficiary has conflicting production freezes?
What if the beneficiary has to change our schedule?
What if a vendor controlled by a beneficiary does not perform?
What if a key new product or upgrade does not perform as advertised?
What if we cannot get access to a site whenever we need to?
What if we cannot get access to a process whenever we need to?
What if a dependency does not pan out?

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