PMcrunch

As Project Managers, our propensity to assess and manage risks needs to align with our understanding of the level of leadership required on the project.  We need to understand clearly the range and depth of our responsibilities on the project in order to effectively manage risk.  Otherwise, our risk management program may be over or under what is really required.  Here’s my thinking on why.

Leadership requires venturing into new and thus risky territory.  What breadth of responsibility does the project manager have on the project?  Was the risk of venturing assumed already at the project portfolio level?  Even if the answer is yes, there is still a range of responsibility the project manager has within the project.

Being bold and daring is increasingly absent from the work of many leaders and professionals, particularly during tougher times.  While I am not advocating being bold about everything, we need to develop the skill to recognize when we can be bold and stick our neck out a bit.  While it might be a big bold decision to undertake the project in the first place, there will surely be bold execution decisions within the realm of the project manager.

As a project manager, it is very important to identify all possible risks, to understand the probability and impact, and to have a plan for reducing the risk and responding to it.  However, this is different from avoiding all risks.  In many cases, it is not the project manager’s decision to take on a risk, but it is his/her decision to communicate and manage it.  However, when it is in the realm of the PM, if leadership decisions are based too heavily on the need to “manage risk,” then risk is actually managing the PM. 

Everyone fails from time to time.  If that’s the worst case, would you rather fail because you went too far, or because your caution meant you didn’t take a courageous shot at it?  As a final check, from time to time, it’s healthy to check in with yourself about this: are you happy with the extent to which your desire to stay safe limits your outcomes?
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John Reiling, PMP
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