Dynamics CRM 2011 – Importance of Risk Management

Jaime Smith, 09 January 2012

In all aspects of our lives we assess risk, at home, while driving, playing sport and so on, likewise we need to take the time to identify and plan for risks within our Dynamics CRM project.  Being proactive about this aspect of project management can ultimately reduce the impact of potential and identified risks throughout your project lifecycle.

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So what elements should we take into consideration when undertaking risk management?

The diagram below highlights Identification, analysis, response and planning, each of these tasks are critical to the creation and implementation of an accurate risk management plan.  There are many other diagrams that detail the risk cycle, but I have used this one from SureStep because for my work it has proved useful and successful for Dynamics CRM projects.                                        

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However, you will notice that we don’t just do all our risk management at the beginning of a project; it is an ever evolving task that requires ongoing maintenance, reassessment and review. In order to do this effectively I know that I have had to ensure that I have a really robust procedure in place that particularly emphasizes the importance of ongoing communication between all stakeholders.  A project I am currently working has been a really great example of this where both the customer project manager and I worked together at a high level to identify our risks for the project – this was a really useful activity as we both brought to the table different aspects and were able to review them there and then.  Going forward we have been able to schedule regular appraisals of the project and associated risks thus enabling us to mitigate impacts early on.

Risk Management is such a huge area and we can access so many resources to assist us, I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts.  Ultimately the biggest risk you can take is to not communicate, if want to alleviate and mitigate risks in your project the COMMUNICATE, with your team, your client and any other stakeholders. 

As a parting laugh, taking the lead in Risk Management hopefully means we will not be remembered in the manner depicted below! 

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*1 Image from http://blog.corporatestays.com/files/2011/04/risk-blocks.jpg
*2 Image from https://mbs2.microsoft.com/Surestep/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
*3 Image from http://alignment.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/dilbert-on-risk-management-redux/