Risk management - Plan - plans and strategies
The Risk Management process
PLAN - plans and strategies
The plan phase refers to the continuing management of the RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS to influence the project planning.
This should be integrated into the normal project management [see ‘The Complete Project Management package’] and [see 'The Complete Project Management plus PRINCE2'] control and monitoring actions.
Three sorts of plans are involved:
- Reference plans (derive from initial plans)
- Base plans (derive from reference plans after risk management input)
- Contingency plans
See detail on the types of plan next [see Types of plans].
In addition there are ‘action plans’ required to assist in ‘horizon planning’ to manage longer term projects (see more detail later).
Risk assessment is incorporated into the plans in terms of ‘proactive’ and reactive plans (contingency).
A summary of the risk assessment is required.
This should be documented along with the ‘reference’ or ‘base’ plans to date. The document should be checked and verified for accuracy and any omissions corrected before circulation.
Any risk analysis presentation at this stage should focus on the top down and should include as a minimum known threats and opportunities.
The quantity and quality of the risk presentation data will be refined as the RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS progresses.
From this, strategies are considered that will generate the base plans and action plans required.
All of this needs to be presented and justified using the data to date.
The presentation is not a vehicle to produce data that will make decision making easy. The data should guide and support the decision making process.
The data should be presented in such a way that all of the assumptions and limitations in the risk assessment are clear so that the decision making process can be better informed.
The aim is to convince senior managers that the project is a ‘GO’.
These are referred to in more detail next [see Types of plans].