Risk management: analyze and manage project risks as a team

A comprehensive approach for effective and coordinated project risk management as a team

Making sure risk management is part of your project management is a way of aligning your organization’s strategy with your project and the team’s objectives. 

This method is based on three essential steps. The first, the risk pathway, can be used depending on the project goal, to assess the risks and monitor them by assigning risk owners. The second, the project risk matrix and analyzing the cause and consequence of these risks, makes it possible to manage these high risk situations. The third, defining the action plan and action owners, enables the whole team and all the stakeholders to be focused on the success of the project.

Manage project risks collectively and visually

Using the Klaxoon whiteboard and its advanced features, mobilize collective intelligence easily to analyze all the risks, their origins and impacts and define an action plan to reduce the likelihood of them occurring.

Facilitating this workshop is made much easier by the Board tool because it can be used remotely or in the classroom, and all with the help of a simple and visual approach. You can get advice from project risk analysis experts wherever you are, even if the team isn’t at full strength. Anticipating project risks will also help to boost confidence in your project and in your employees too. Why don’t you give it a go!

Risk management with the Klaxoon template

Before launching the whiteboard, the risk management workshop leader starts by spelling out the project goal and identifying the project scope. Then, they invite the team members to join the Board, and ask them to post their photo to have an accurate overview of all the participants.

Next comes the risk identification phase. Using the Board's built-in timer, time participants for 15 minutes while they send their ideas, in the right color. Switch to column view to see them more clearly, then link each idea to an activity, with the approval of the facilitator. In Dimensions, write down the names of the risk owners, who will be responsible for monitoring the risk. You can go back to board view and drag the risks into the Risks / Activities / Owners box.

Before starting the assessment phase, the facilitator explains the rating scale to determine severity and probability. Then, for each risk, create one question to be decided by vote to assess severity and one to assess probability, incorporating the scales. Start voting and note the justification for the assessment in Comments. Close the vote and drag the risk into the Assessment / Justification box. Then copy each risk and place your copy in the matrix.

Now it’s time for the project risk analysis. Copy as many risk sheets you need; one for each risk, based on severity. Transfer the assessed risk from the risk pathway to the risk sheet, along with a copy of the risk owner’s sheet. Spend time in groups to determine the causes and consequences of each risk, and then schedule preventive (purple) and predictive (blue) actions. Write the name of the person responsible for the action and an action date in Dimensions. You can change it to green once it has been completed.

Now you have your success plan, all you have to do is make sure it’s followed up periodically, in project management meetings, for example. You will need to update the risk matrix on a regular basis. Update the datasheets too by changing the color of the banner, changing completed actions to green and changing the severity. This way, you can keep a watchful eye on the actions that still need to be completed and the risks that are still there for your project!