MSP For Dummies

Chapter 11

Managing Risk in Your Programme

In This Chapter

Understanding the principles of risk management

Taking a perspective on risks in different parts of the programme

Using the risk-management approach

Applying the risk-management process

By definition, any activity (such as your shiny new programme) that seeks to achieve benefits through change is going to include a certain level of uncertainty ‒ in other words, risk. You can't avoid this reality. Risk isn't something to avoid at all costs (like saying, ‘Do you want me to drive?’ when your partner is fuming behind the wheel after taking yet another wrong turn), which is why I call this chapter ‘Managing Risk in Your Programme’ and not ‘Avoiding Risk in Your Programme’.

Risk management is a big subject, and in this chapter I take a broad look at risks in the context of a programme. Plenty of risks can arise within a typical programme, so as well as covering the principles and terminology used, I also discuss the perspectives, which are the different parts of the business in which risks can appear (this practice is quite different ...