Almost every project has risks that crop up during different stages of execution. These risks may impede the processed involved and slow down the progress of the project. However, there are positive risks that are in many cases advantageous to the project. Therefore, there should measure put in place to enhance effective management of the risks. Every team member ought to be aware of the speculated risks and the countermeasures used to control them. Consequently, this essay aims to identify some of the positive and negative risks associated with the project and to discuss how the risk can affect the project team. Besides, the paper seeks to highlight risk management strategies that can be employed to mitigate the effects of the risks.
Some of the positive risks associated with the project include an overwhelming number of qualified workers willing to work on the project, increased number of referrals from clients, and excess suppliers ready to deliver required equipment for the project. On the other hand, the adverse risks include accidents that slow down work, faulty equipment, breakage or spoilage of equipment and tools. All these risks are differently prioritized to enable efficient control. For instance, the application of workers will be considered first until the required threshold is attained. Then the focus can be diverted to the suppliers, who bids will be evaluated and selected depending on cost and quality. The increasing number of clients comes last in the priority list to avoid a backlog. These risks affect the project either directly or indirectly; more workers streaming in for work will motivate the project team members to work hard to secure their slots. In a like manner, more customers translate to an increased working period for the team; thus they are motivated to provide quality output (Ward " Chapman, 2003).
Similarly, the adverse risks are also prioritized to minimize the effects that might occur. The accidents that occur during work are given priority in reducing the time wasted when workers are being treated. Responding promptly to accidents also lessen the effects of the aftermath and lead to the rescue of lives that might have been lost. Faulty and broken equipment on the other hand and come second because the procuring process entails contacting suppliers and making orders. Moreover, some breakdown of some equipment might not necessarily halt the whole project. When accidents occur during project execution, the workers often become scared to proceed with duties because of fear. Some lose morale when their colleagues become victims of the disasters and are forced to stay out of work. In a like manner, faulty equipment slows down the progress of work and make the team members lose tempo of performing their roles.
There are critical processes of project risk management that can be utilized to control the risks strategically. The positive risk management techniques involve exploitation, sharing, and enhancement. Exploiting the threats means doubling the chances of positive effects the risk might have on the project. For instance, the project team can recruit more qualified workers to reduce backlog or use of more advanced tools to speed up the process. Sharing entails transferring the risks with positive impacts to a third party who has resources to boost it. In this case, the team can identify a positive risk that they cannot use and share it with a third party to yield better results. Enhancing involve improving the efforts to make the risk bigger so that the results can be more lucrative. In such a case, the team ought to evaluate the risk and establish the possible outcome, then proceed to persuade the management to invest more resources in enhancing the risk (Harrin, 2017).
Similarly, negative risk management has processes that are applied for effective control. As a result, the project manager and the team may choose to avoid, transfer, mitigate, or accept the risk altogether. Avoiding involves doing all it takes to ensure the risk does not occur, for instance, a team can be delegated to check the equipment before they are delivered to ensure they are in working condition. Transferring entails passing over the risk to a third party who capable of handling the threats effectively. For instance, installation or commissioning of equipment can be sub-tendered to a different party who will be fully responsible. Mitigation involves lessening the risk to reduce the chances of negative impacts. For example, the project team must adhere to the guidelines in the project plan to minimize the possibility of accidents. If there is nothing that can be done about the risk, the last solution is to accept and learn how to handle such threats in the future (Cervone, 2006).
In conclusion, every team member ought to understand the necessary processes of risk management. In so doing, the team can be assured of minimal negative impacts resulting from the threat. Moreover, the project team will be equipped with appropriate strategies to manage the risks efficiently. Effective risk management influences the overall success of a project.
References
Cervone, H. F. (2006). Project risk management. OCLC Systems " Services: International digital library perspectives, 22(4), 256-262.
Chapman, C., " Ward, S. (2003). Project risk management: processes, techniques, and insights. Wiley.
Harrin, E. (2017, August 07). What is Positive Risk on Projects? Retrieved September 24, 2018, from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/whats-positive-risk-on-projects
Ward, S., " Chapman, C. (2003). Transforming project risk management into project uncertainty management. International journal of project management, 21(2), 97-105.
