MONTHLY COLUMN:

ADVANCES IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Managing Risk in Projects: What’s New?

By David Hillson, PhD
The Risk Doctor

Editor’s note:  The series on Advances in Project Management was launched with a Guest Editorial by Professor Darren Dalcher and first article in the December 2009 edition of PM World Today.  Please read that introductory editorial here, where Professor Dalcher explains and sets the stage for articles in this exciting series by leading authors in the field of project management.  Please read previous articles in the series by visiting the archives, beginning with the December 2009 edition.  Each month’s article is introduced by Professor Darren Dalcher, editor of the Series on Advances in Project Management.  To read Professor Dalcher’s introduction to this month’s article, visit www.pmworldtoday.net.

Humans have been undertaking projects for millennia, with more or less formality, and with greater or lesser degrees of success. We have also recognised the existence of risk for about the same period of time, understanding that things don’t always go according to plan for a range of reasons. In relatively recent times these two phenomena have coalesced into the formal discipline called project risk management, offering a structured framework for identifying and managing risk within the context of projects. Given the prevalence and importance of the subject, we might expect that project risk management would be fully mature by now, only needing occasional minor tweaks and modifications to enhance its efficiency and performance. Surely there is nothing new to be said about managing risk in projects?

While it is true that there is wide consensus on project risk management basics, the continued failure of projects to deliver consistent benefits suggests that the problem of risk in projects has not been completely solved. Clearly there must be some mismatch between project risk management theory and practice, or perhaps there are new aspects to be discovered and implemented, otherwise all project risks would be managed effectively and most projects would succeed.

So what could possibly remain to be discovered about this venerable topic? Here are some suggestions for how we might do things differently and better, under four headings:

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About the Author Dr. David Hillson Author Dr David Hillson, PMP FRSA HonFAPM FIRM FCMI, is internationally recognized as a leading thinker and practitioner in risk management. He is Director of Risk Doctor & Partners (www.risk-doctor.com), and has worked in over 40 countries. He is a popular conference speaker and award-winning author on risk, with six books on the topic. David has made several innovative contributions to improving risk management, and is well known for promoting the inclusion of proactive opportunity management within the risk process, and for his ground-breaking work in risk psychology.  David is an Honorary Fellow of the UK Association for Project Management (APM) and past chairman of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group.  He is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), and the UK Chartered Management Institute (CMI).  David is also an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and was a founder member of its Risk Management Specific Interest Group. He received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for his work in developing risk management over many years. Since 1998 he has been a core author for the risk chapter of the PMBOK Guide®, and is a core author for the PMI Practice Standard for Project Risk Management.  David can be contacted at david@risk-doctor.com. To see his latest book, Managing Risks in Projects, published in July 2009 by Gower, visit http://www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9780566088674.