What do you do if your risk management deadlines are impacted by unexpected changes or delays?

Unexpected changes and delays can definitely throw your risk management deadlines off track. To handle unexpected changes or delays, identify the cause and scope, evaluate the impact on risk management deadlines, and adjust tasks accordingly. Communicate the situation to stakeholders, renegotiate deadlines if possible, and prioritize critical tasks. Adapt and mitigate delays by exploring alternative approaches, re-allocating resources, seeking support, maintaining transparency, and using risk management tools. Keep stakeholders informed and document decisions for future reference. Analyze the cause to be more prepared for unforeseen circumstances.

To handle unexpected changes or delays affecting risk management deadlines, first understand the scope and cause, then assess how these affect the project's risk landscape. Updating the risk management plan and communicating any changes clearly to all stakeholders are essential steps. Negotiating new deadlines might be necessary, alongside optimizing the use of available resources to address critical areas. Maintaining open and effective communication ensures that everyone is aligned, while flexibility allows for adapting strategies as needed. Remember, adapting to changes is a continuous process, requiring a balance between strategic planning and the ability to pivot as situations evolve.

This is all about understanding the ripple effect. Here's what a thorough assessment entails: Identify which specific risks in your plan are most impacted by the changes or delays. Consider the likelihood of these risks occurring now, given the new circumstances. Have some risks become more or less likely? Evaluate the potential severity (consequences) of each impacted risk. Has the severity of the risk outcomes changed due to the unexpected situation?

In my professional experience I have come across situations of delays or changes mainly related to the risk response phase. This phase involves a mitigating action that may involve additional resource needs (technology, systems or tools), process changes, regulatory updates, reallocation of professionals to other activities, hiring of consultants, etc. Investments need to be well evaluated vis-vis risk, cost, coverage, mitigation period, strategy, and sometimes unexpected delays may occur. As a risk professional, assessing financial and reputational impacts is certainly essential. Furthermore, providing viable and safe alternatives to the business to resolve risks in projects, contracts, and M&A operations are also essential.

Consider if your existing mitigation strategies are still effective. You might need to develop new mitigation approaches or adjust existing ones to address the changed circumstances. Evaluate if the resource allocation for risk management needs to be adjusted. Scenario: You're managing risk for a software development project. A critical developer gets sick and will be out for two weeks. This delays go-live date. You could focus testing on critical functionalities first. Consider code reviews by senior developers to compensate for the missing developer's expertise. Explore if a junior developer can be assigned simpler tasks to free up senior developers for crucial tasks.

If the unexpected changes or delays affect your ability to meet existing risk management deadlines, open communication is crucial. Here's how to navigate this: Explain the situation and its impact on deadlines clearly to all relevant stakeholders. This might include project managers, executives, or any party relying on your risk management plan. Be prepared to justify why deadline extensions are necessary. Present a revised timeline based on your assessment of the delays. Be clear about the steps you're taking to mitigate the impact.

See if there's the possibility of bringing in additional team members to help manage the workload created by the delays. Consider outsourcing specific tasks related to risk management to free up internal resources. If necessary, evaluate if additional budget allocation is needed to acquire resources or expedite tasks. Identify opportunities to leverage additional resources. This may involve reallocating manpower, securing additional funding, or tapping into expertise from other teams or departments. Assess the availability of resources and prioritize their allocation based on the criticality of the impacted areas. Explore creative solutions to optimize resource utilization and maximize project efficiency.

Bringing in more people to meet the deadlines would be my go-to mitigation tactic here. If this is not possible then the next best thing would be to communicate with the customer / other stakeholders about the situation and ask for extensions; and provide interims / regular updates. You can also prioritize the important tasks first based on the scope.

Effective communication is key to many aspects of project management, including Risk and change management. At times, risk management response plans will be affected by changes in the project. So, it is very important to update risks responses according to changes in project by involving all stakeholders and communicate effectively and seamlessly afterwards. You must have a predefined communication plan in place integrating risk and change management.

Develop contingency plans for critical aspects of the project to mitigate the impact of unexpected changes or delays. Take the opportunity to analyze why the changes occurred and what could be done differently in the future to minimize their impact. Incorporate these lessons learned into your risk management approach for future projects. Keep thorough documentation of the changes, their impacts, and the steps taken to address them. This documentation will be valuable for future reference and can provide insights for similar situations that may arise. If possible, investigate the root cause. Understanding the root cause can help you develop preventative measures to avoid similar situations in the future.