One of the main reasons Oil & Gas manufacturing projects fail is because risks are rarely identified ahead of time. As a result, we see the following organizational troubles:
• Frequent surprises
• People constantly reacting to events
• Every reaction is improvised “on the fly”
• No periodic meetings specifically to review, identify or plan for risk
• Frustration and distress
Project risk management isn’t simple, but it isn’t overly complex either. The hardest part is getting the right people in a room periodically in order to review, identify and discuss risks. But before you can do that, you need some key project deliverables, such as a detailed schedule. But good schedules require a good WBS, right? And a good WBS requires a thoroughly defined scope. You see where this is going. Good risk management isn’t just a one-time, isolated event—it’s recurring and all-encompassing. And it’s 100% predicated on all other project processes and deliverables being done properly.
Since projects take place in the future, there will always be risk. Nobody knows for sure what will happen. The best you and your team can do is speculate about what those risks could be. How likely are they? What’s the impact? Finally, decide what to do about them … today.
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