Project risk action management

This paper examines the requirements for project risk action management techniques which can assist clients and project managers to assess and pre-empt potential sources of risk. These sources may be external or internal to the project and include those which may result from the manager's own actions. The aim is to encourage project managers to be sensitive to these potential sources of risk, to be able to anticipate their occurrence, to appreciate their potential impacts on the project objectives and to reduce their future impact through appropriate risk action management strategies. The paper examines project management goals and objectives and discusses risks which may arise to threaten the achievement of these objectives. The conventional risk analysis approach is reviewed in the context of the need to identify and assess such risks and their potential effects. The paper reviews the direct relationship, as presented in the conventional approaches to risk analysis, between 'risk drivers' and risked consequences, and demonstrates that this represents a primarily passive approach to project risk management. It argues that, if the manager is able to anticipate risks, he should also be able to take appropriate pre-emptive actions before they occur. Thus, we show how risk action management techniques, within the context of project management, can support project managers in the formulation of project strategies, planning and the achievement of project objectives.