Page 189 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 10: Risk Management

10.2.1 Risk Identification Notes

Risk identification is used in risk management to answer the questions: What can happen? How
can it happen? Risk identification is the process of recognizing the opportunities opened up by
each activity or phase of the project and clarifying where the risk lies. The agreed tolerance of
risk should help identify the amount of time should be spent in identifying risk, but, at least the
20% of the risks that would have 80% of the potential impact should be identified. There are
many techniques to aid in risk identification and they generally fall under the heading of either
quantitative or qualitative risk identification techniques.
Following are the main Qualitative Techniques of Risk Identification
 Assumptions Analysis
 Check Lists
 Prompt Lists
 Brainstorming
 Facilitated workshops
 Interviews

Assumptions Analysis

It is evitable that when you start planning or outlining your project you will be making
assumptions. Making assumptions within a project will always create risks and a way to help
manage this is to list all the assumptions of each phase or stage of your project against a
timeline. Then think about the consequence of the assumptions and how they affect the other
parts of the project. Try creating a high level storyboard of the project showing risk and
assumptions are associated, this can show the effect of decisions and should provide a better
understanding about the risks in a program or project.

Check Lists
Risk checklists are often built upon a Project or Program Managers past experience or the Project
Management experience of an organization. They will normally take into account:
 Quality experience
 Formality of development
 Novelty of application
 Impact on business
 Requirements standards

 Software identification
 Projects concurrency
 Dependencies
 Project duration
 Flexibility of delivery
 Planning estimates
 Stability of suppliers
 Range of sites

 Impact upon status quo

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