FRANK SCHULTMANN: Hello, my name is Frank Schultmann.

I'm a Professor of complex project management

at the University of Adelaide.
I also hold a professorship at the Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology in Germany.
I'm always faced with some interesting comments
and questions from my students, and I
would like to share some of these with you.
I quite often hear the comment, "...but as a project manager we
won't have enough time to stop and think about risk."
My simple response is, you have to make time.
There are risks or uncertainties associated with all projects,
and these risks need to be identified and assessed,
and appropriate responses developed.
Experience shows us that when risks are not
considered in this way, there's a greater
chance of problems occurring during project execution.
Another commonly held belief is that risk management
in projects is all about ensuring things don't go wrong
on the project.
Whilst this is certainly true, I also
reinforce that with risk being defined as "uncertainty
on the achievement of your objectives,"
there's also a chance that there may be some uncertainties
that you feel may have a positive effect
on your objectives.
If this is the case, then ideally you would want
to maximise these opportunities.
Hence we see that risk management has two elements
to it, minimising losses and maximising opportunities.
The final question for the week is one that I'm often asked,
and that is "OK, I understand that risk management is
important in a project context, and that it
has two elements to it.
But when in the life of my project
should I actually start to apply the risk management process?"
The simple answer is, as soon as possible, and definitely
during the planning stage.
It's crucial that you begin the risk management process
before the project is executed.
That's all from me this week.
Remember to use the forum to full advantage
by involving yourself in the discussion.
See you next week.