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TEXT
Scenario for Advanced Issues in Risk
Management
“You have been working in the company as a software developer, and you have
had some success on projects involving migrating software to new versions,
moving to cloud services, and addressing difficult technical issues in a variety of
technology areas in the company. Most important, you are becoming known for
your “people” skills, dealing well with emotional customers under stressful
situations. You don’t really know what that means. After all, you are just doing
your job. You have a reasonable expectation that in the next few years, you will
be promoted to oversee a team of developers in the data center.

One day in late February you are called in to a meeting with the CIO for the
company (your boss’s boss). It is a little alarming because you have never had a
conversation with this lady, only saying “Hi” to her as she passed by in the
hallway. You are then pleased to learn that she has heard good things about
your work, and surprised when she assigns you to be the project manager for a
project aimed at building a mobile application to help the park customers get
directions in real time to the various thrill rides and get an estimated number of
minutes they might have to wait in line to take each ride. She hints that if you do
well, you will be on a management fast track.

The CIO is very excited about the new app, in large part because other theme
parks, like Hersheypark, Busch Gardens and Disneyworld have already started
to work on their own mobile apps. The potential downside of this assignment is
that she does not say you are able to work full time on the project. Apparently
your current work on other projects and service issues continues. It’s your
problem, not hers.
The CIO wants to make a big splash by unveiling the new mobile app on the
opening day for all five theme parks, which is always scheduled on Mother’s
Day, May 11. The CIO does not seem to be too worried abut the short time to
implementation. She tells you that she has already identified a small firm in Palo
Alto, in southern California. Turns out the head of the firm was a mentor for her
when she started her career after attending Stanford University. “This is a pretty
straightforward turn-key application,” she says casually.

Identify three risks, then describe mitigation measures you would take to
prevent each risk from occurring (or lessening their impact).”

Risk 1
[Name of Risk] Risk of Not finishing in time

[Category] Schedule

[Mitigation measure(s)]

1. Analyze and understand the Scope, Critical Path and Statement of Work.
Verify expectations with project sponsors keeping the triple constraint in mind.
Pay close attention to tasks with durations that seem too ambitious or
impossible.

2. Generate periodic (weekly or monthly) reports to track progress ensuring that

the initiative stays within the expected schedule.

3. Facilitate daily/weekly scrum sessions with core project team members to

track completion or delays with assigned task work.

4. Practice effective communication in monitoring and reporting status to

guarantee that the project team is updated.

5. Include the use of a shared folder, forum or other broadcasting tools to deliver
periodic updates on task progress.

6. Prioritization of critical work and fast-tracking specific tasks can assist in

minimizing the impact caused by delays.

7. Introduce the use of any triggers or alerts that can detect delays with
individual tasks or dependencies early on.

8. Identify alternatives and keep some flexibility in the project timeline by the use
of lag and lead times. In order to manage interruptions, it’s advisable to be able
to revise initial scope, seek external resources to transfer or outsource the risk in
order to reduce its impact.
9. Another strategy could be to restructure requirements and revise scope to
keep up with aggressive timelines.

Risk 2
[Name of Risk] Project Scope Expansion

[Category] Scope

[Mitigation measure(s)]

1. Meet with sponsors, PMO and other stakeholders to understand all changes
or additions to existing project scope.

2. Analyze additional changes and recommend any inclusions or exclusions

based on requirements, feasibility, scope and other influencing factors.

3. Be realistic, honest and communicate about how the schedule will be

affected, what changes are essential and how much of a compromise will it be to
the triple constraint.

4. Some changes could affect the budget causing for cost overruns which can
be another problem or some changes could drastically impact the schedule
thereby affecting the entire initiative and all pending milestones.

5. Document, communicate and confirm additional requirements to all affected

personnel. Define precise deliverables and get them approved by project drivers.

6. Ensure that everybody has a clear understanding of the project vision, goals,
changes and strategies in place to complete all existing and new scope of work.

7. Distribute and break down the additional deliverables into tangible tasks that
can be accommodated by resources without interrupting on-going progress. The
goal should be to minimize impact by reassigning to existing or outsourcing to
external resources.

8. Implement change management processes to ensure that there is

understanding, acceptance and delivery of the new scope.

Risk 3
[Name of Risk] Outsourcing Risks

[Category] Resource

[Mitigation measure(s)]

1. Conduct extensive research on the suggested vendor before accepting

outsourced help based on CIO’s recommendation.
2. Review vendor RFP reports based on past project success, technical
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analysis.

3. Agree on standards, schedule and processes within the SOW prior to and
during the project initiative.

4. Ensure that the Work Breakdown Structure is understood, approved and

committed to during the course of the project initiative.

5. Review and approve business plan, risk registers, quality analysis and
continuity of assigned work periodically.

6. Increase awareness about rules, regulations, compliance guidelines and/or

cultural business differences. When working with external vendors, it is vital that
all work related to a common project should be streamlined across all team
units.

7. Publish well planned milestones and deliverables to be in sync with the

project sponsor’s expectations.

8. Facilitate daily or weekly meetings to review progress reports and task

trackers to monitor that the work being delivered is as per the agreed SOW.

9. Escalate any threats, delays or unforeseen interruptions as required. In case

of any intrusions, loss of resources, obstructions or failure in completing
assigned work there needs to be an escalation plan agreed upon.

10. Management and project drivers need to be notified and advised as

required. Also have alternative resources to outsource said work to in case of
disaster recovery scenarios if required.

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