Risk management - 6 questions to define the project
6 questions to define the project
Within this training information we will refer to the Project Life Cycle (PLC), the Project Management [see ‘The Complete Project Management package’] and [see 'The Complete Project Management plus PRINCE2'] plan and its phases.
These phases will define the ‘backbone’ of the project.
Within each of these we will need to consider the 6 questions to varying degrees.
Who?
Persons who are involved in the project or who may be affected by it will be the STAKEHOLDERS.
Initially, these will be those persons starting up the project.
They will include the project team and other internal personnel.
There will be external personnel e.g. contractors, regulatory bodies, consultants, legal advisors add others.
Why?
It addresses the point of the project.
These could be many and varied.
One reason will obviously be:
- Profit
Others may include:
- To offset a competitor’s position
- To comply with a regulatory need
In broader terms these are often referred to as the MOTIVES for the project.
What?
This could be anything from a building or service to a report.
How?
Depending on how we approach the project will influence the ‘resource’, and ‘when’ in terms of the plan.
Resource?
Resource could be both internal and external.
When?
Usually seen as a Gantt chart representing the tasks and will indicate the completion date.
When considering these 6 questions in the various phases of the project we may need to revisit some earlier assumptions.
For example, HOW we decide to carry out a project may well influence a revisit to the WHAT in terms of design.
RISK will be evident in all of these considerations.
Identification and management of RISK will be covered in more detail later.