In Part 1 of this blog posting we took a look at the first three steps to becoming a risk superhero.  Here we will look at the remaining 4 steps.

Step 4—Secure Buy-In From Key Players and Stakeholders

With an understanding of risk continuum position, strategic fit and with the right players in place, you’ll be well positioned to articulate your strategy and secure stakeholder buy-in. Regardless of your company’s position on the continuum, the following approach is recommended:

1. Always utilise relevant fact-based risk events. This will be particularly important in reaching the risk-heroes and reactionary managers mentioned earlier, as it’s difficult to argue against facts.

2. Reference historically similar risks, approaches and cost savings. Stress the importance of early action and determine the opposing “cost of waiting” for the risk event to materialise. These costs could be financial, resource related, etc. Consider previous strategies employed (accept, mitigate, avoid, transfer, etc.). Read more

Introduction

Risk management can be a deep, cavernous and potentially career-limiting endeavour if not properly planned. Unfortunately, project managers often approach risk in a purely one-dimensional fashion, without considering many essential components such as the company risk climate, the project’s strategic fit, key player and stakeholder involvement and buy-in. Ensuring risk ownership, addressing supply-chain concerns and utilising applicable lessons learned and historical documentation from previous projects will greatly reduce project management plan updates and the havoc of risks on your initiative.
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Ability to evaluate and judge – such is the essence of project leadership and decision making.

Capacity for original and productive thought – problem resolution and the comparative analysis of options is a constant need in good project management.

So in all aspects the project demands the intelligent project manager.

But what else is required to support successful project delivery, not from the individual‘s perspective but from the organisation as a whole?

Here we can introduce a new term that refers to these requirements; Project Intelligence.

 Project Intelligence (PI) refers to the skills, processes, technologies, applications, metrics and practices used to support successful project delivery from the organisation as a whole.

 Common components of Project Intelligence include: Read more

  ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’ Albert Einstein

There are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it. Simply put, however, intelligence can be described as the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with one‘s environment.

This general ability consists of a number of specific abilities including:

- Adaptability to a new environment or to changes in the current environment Read more

In part one of this blog posting we took a look at the 2 first opportunities which every project manager, regardless of discipline, can and should capitalise upon. They were:
1) Take the opportunity to recognise and reward success
2) Take the opportunity to provide and ask for feedback

Here we will look at the remaining 4 opportunities. Read more

When asked how typical risk management exercises are conducted, most project managers reply that this involves conversations and documentation around risk events and their respective probabilities and impacts. While this is a necessary and beneficial exercise, this standard approach and mind set does not account for taking time to recognise and focus on maximising opportunities, and it often leads the team and project manager in the opposite direction. Effective risk management should not be focused solely on recognising possible failure points, but also on learning how to best recognise and capitalise on opportunities to ensure both project and future success. Opportunity Management is about removing barriers to success and creating a path for yourself and your teams. Read more

Step 4—Increase Your PMO’s Value

Now that you’ve identified the type of PMO you have, and have determined the value that it’s providing your organisation, let’s take a look at the ways you can increase its value across the organisation. Read more

Step 2—Determine What Type of PMO You Have

Now that you’ve conducted an internal assessment, either through in-house staff or with the support of an outside consultant, you’ve effectively taken the “pulse” of your organisation. You know the views of others inside the organisation with respect to your PMO, and you may have developed a path forward to address issues and concerns that emerged as a result of the survey. Based upon daily functions, as well as information obtained through the assessment, the next step is to determine what type of PMO you have. Your PMO may be all, some of, or just one or two of the following: Read more

Key Functions of the PMO

In 2005, Dr. Brian Hobbs, a well-known and respected researcher at the University of Quebec at Montreal, conducted a survey of 500 PMOs for a research initiative commissioned by the Project Management Institute (PMI®). The survey underscored the broad variation in activities and functions of each PMO participant. Of its many findings, the survey identified the top 10 most important functions of the PMO (as reported by the respondents), to include (Hobbs, 22):

 • Reporting project status to upper management
• Developing and implementing standard methodologies
• Monitoring and controlling project performance
• Developing project management competencies, including training
• Implementing and operating a project management information system (PMIS)
• Advising upper management
• Coordinating among project and project managers
• Developing and maintaining a project scoreboard
• Promoting project management within the organisation
• Monitoring and controlling performance of the PMO Read more