Here's how you can effectively manage program risks.

Group think and cultural bias can be real problems in identifying risks, I find asking people to come to a risk workshop with 3 things that worry them about the programme can actually uncover more meaningful risks than formal analysis (but do that as well!)

-Gather your team to brainstorm all potential risks, considering technical challenges, resource constraints, regulatory changes, and market fluctuations. -Ensure all possible risks are identified. Unmanaged risks can derail your program. -Use a risk register to document and track identified risks, providing a clear overview and ensuring nothing is overlooked.

Effectively managing program risks is crucial to the success of any project or program. Identify early risks by brainstorming sessions or SWOT analysis which help identify common risks and their triggers. Develop mitigation strategies and risk management plan with regular reviews and KRi which provide early warnings of potential risk events.

Managing risks effectively is crucial for program success. Here is a proven approach to help manage program risks: Conduct brainstorming sessions with your team to identify potential risks. Encourage diverse perspectives to capture as many risks as possible. Focus on high-impact, high-likelihood risks first. Implement measures to reduce the likelihood or impact of risks. Share or transfer the risk to another party through insurance or outsourcing. Develop detailed action plans for each key risk, specifying the responsible parties, timelines, and required resources. Continuously monitor risk indicators against predefined thresholds. After the project closes, identify lessons learned to improve future risk management processes.

Good understanding of definition of risk is very important- to begin with. One way of looking at risk is “any thing that comes in the way of meeting your “program objectives “ Therefore Programme Objectives should be the starting point. Proceed with vulnerabilities / potential risks relevant to the underlying Business Processes in place / being addressed. Assess probability ( High - medium - Low) of risk surfacing and Impact ( High - Medium - Low) of such risks Priorities based on Impact and relevance etc. Design mitigating control systems, taking into consideration the associated costs and benefits Get management Buy In and Budgets and develop metrics. In a way it’s all about Alignment between Objectives, Risks and Controls

Be sure to install regular risk reviews vs program status with a clear defined escalation path to secure functional organizational resources and oversight when needed.

After identifying potential risks, the next step is to analyze them to understand their potential impact and likelihood. Qualitative analysis helps categorize risks by severity, while quantitative analysis assigns numerical values to prioritize them. This process is essential to determine which risks need immediate attention and resources, and which can be monitored over time. Conducting a thorough risk analysis is crucial for developing effective risk mitigation strategies.

For a simple approach, enlisting factors leading to failures at every stage will lead to identification and same can be implemented for every stage of project for a finer view of risks.

Its important to grade the risk in a 2X2 matrix... Low impact, High impact & easily preventable, Diff to prevent. Resource allocation prioritization should be to 1) High impact low effort 2) Low Impact Low effort/ High Impact high effort depending on resource crunch 3) Low impact High effort

A thorough review of past programs and lessons learned is invaluable to understanding what has and will potentially go wrong again if not managed and mitigated.

Identifying risks is one major challenge prioritizing and categorising is another challenge. Categorise it as technological risk, business risk, resource risk Prioritize as high probability high impact, high probability low impact Once identified assign ownership accordingly and register it in Risk register.

Effectively managing program risk through prioritization involves: 1. Identifying Risks: List potential risks. 2. Assessing Risks: Evaluate likelihood and impact. 3. Prioritizing Risks: Rank based on severity. 4. Developing Mitigation Plans: Create strategies for high-priority risks. 5. Monitoring and Reviewing: Track risks and adjust plans. 6. Communicating: Inform stakeholders about risks and plans. This structured approach helps focus efforts on the most critical risks, ensuring better program outcomes.

There are many ways of filtering risks and performing risk assessment. The simple matrix will remain as one of the best ways. This also has to be maintain during the time.

Not that all risk can be eliminated but certain risk can be mitigated or transferred. Assign ownership to each of the risk and develop an action plan and make them accountable For instance any support/license expiry of software product can be “Mitigated”either by extending. However if the risk can be put on the “Watch list” in case of minimal risk and wouldn’t close until it resolved as it may rise as mushroom after rain during duration of program

Critical thinking, deep understanding and detailed analysis can help to manage the allocation of requisite resources to mitigate and manage the risk. The continued mapping and monitoring will eventually lead to effective risk management and ideally even better delivery

Have a risk response strategy based on risk score. Response could be to avoid, transfer or mitigate the risk. You can can change course of action to avoid risk, if it does not impact cost, quality, and schedule of the project. If it's feasible you can delegate the task without creating adverse impact and thus transfer the risk. If you can't avoid or transfer risk, you must mitigate risk. That is, you must find ways in which you can reduce the impact of the risk if it occurs. This may result in change in cost/schedule/scope or all.

Most experienced PM's will have an idea about managing a particular risk, based on their experience. The following aspects are proven helpful always: - sound off the risk as early as possible and don't think too much about the bureaucracy in play. People related risks should always be given a priority; this is one area that doesn't necessarily works on precedents - learn from past experiences and previous issues. Key to a better workplace risk management is ensuring the same thing doesn't happen again in any project or program - keep reviewing, reworking and expanding your risk appetite. With continuous improvements in technology and process simplifications, you're more likely to resolve a risk today compared to an instance in the past

Pour atténuer les risques prioritaires, il est essentiel de développer des stratégies spécifiques dans le contexte humanitaire. Ces stratégies peuvent inclure l'anticipation de la planification des situations volatiles, le recours à des assurances ou contrats pour transférer les risques, ainsi que l'adoption de solutions alternatives. Une approche créative est nécessaire pour résoudre efficacement les problèmes. Il peut également être important de réaffecter des ressources ou d'ajuster les délais afin d'assurer une atténuation efficace des risques. En investissant des ressources, il est possible de réaliser des économies à moyen et court termes et d'assurer le succès du programme humanitaire, notamment dans un contexte changeant.

A disciplined change management process against initial program charter or specs is essential to prevent new risks from unintended consequences.

Risks are not static and can change over time. Regular monitoring of identified risks is essential to track their evolution and the effectiveness of your mitigation efforts. This involves updating the risk register, periodically reassessing risks, and communicating changes to stakeholders. By closely monitoring risks, you can respond quickly to new information or changes in the program environment, ensuring that your risk management strategies remain relevant and effective.

Regular monitoring of identified risks is essential to track their evolution and the effectiveness of your mitigation efforts. This involves updating the risk register, reassessing risks periodically, and communicating changes to stakeholders.

Having a well thought through control framework is essential. Often, the risk landscape is too broad to monitor every risk comprehensively. So having a decent ‘radar’ and response plan is really helpful.

Effective risk communication involves clear, timely, and transparent information sharing. Use structured methods like risk registers and regular updates. Engage stakeholders through meetings, reports, and collaborative platforms. Ensure messages are concise, understandable, and actionable to facilitate informed decision-making.

From my experience, to communicate risks effectively, use clear, simple language and share all relevant information. Provide regular updates, use visuals like charts or even to the point excel sheets, and document everything. Tailor your message to the audience, encourage feedback, and assign specific owners and deadlines for each risk. Clearly explain in comments how you’ll handle each risk to keep everyone informed and reassured.

Risk is a part and parcel of any program being delivered. While a PgM ends up taking a lot of steps in the background to see the best way to mitigate the risk, it is extremely important to keep the right stakeholders updated. More than that, in case of critical risk affecting go-live, a more proactive communication should be established so that all stakeholders receive frequent updates. Don't be afraid to over communicate to prevent any misunderstandings and communication gap! To ensure this doesn't take too much of your time some templates can also be created and reminders be put on the calendar to publish the latest updates.

Before you communicate risk to stakeholders, you had better have a plan to mitigate it. Otherwise you will badly embarrass yourself when the stakeholders start asking questions.

La comunicación efectiva es esencial en la gestión de riesgos del programa. Informar a las partes interesadas sobre los riesgos potenciales y las medidas de gestión es crucial. Una comunicación clara asegura que todos comprendan su papel y puedan actuar adecuadamente. Promueve una cultura de transparencia y confianza, vital para el éxito del programa. Las actualizaciones periódicas y los canales abiertos de comunicación mantienen la participación y el apoyo a lo largo del ciclo de vida del programa. A pesar de una preparación meticulosa, sin comunicación efectiva, el esfuerzo puede fracasar. Los equipos deben entender bien el plan, sus roles y el porqué, en el momento adecuado, para evitar el fracaso.

Besides the points stated above, program manager should also remember. 1. Program risks are not the same as project risks. 2. Presenting, Monitoring and tracking of these risks at the executive level is necessary. 3. All the decisions have to be facilitated or made considering organisational objectives and benefits.

To add to Swarnima’s insight, knowing which stakeholders need to be aware of risks and the mitigation plans, it’s also important to know the stakeholders themselves if you are able to do so. Though in many large projects the stakeholders are dispersed geographically, it’s a good idea to reach out to the individual stakeholders at the beginning of a project via video call or at the very least, through a phone call, introduce yourself and explain what you as a project manager believe is important to communicate to that stakeholder and ask if that matches the stakeholder’s expectations. As Swarnima said (paraphrasing), over-communicating is better than under communication.

In addition to identifying, analyzing, prioritizing, mitigating, monitoring and communicating risk, taking action on the risk in order to keep it minimally controlled is essential for program continuity management.

One thing that I constantly strive to do is to develop a risk mindset as this is essential to early detection. Few habits that I tend to follow: 1. Learn to be your own critic - make a thorough plan and then also question your own assumptions, identify biases that may have come in. 2. Develop a birds eye view - Look around your immediate asks..sometimes the risk(s) may not be directly related to your project/ tasks but other peripheral systems, people etc. 3. Do not get contend - Even when you feel you've covered it all, don't let your guard down. There is still an element of risk out there somewhere, you're just not seeing it yet Remember, the earlier you identify a risk, the more chance you're giving yourself to mitigate it.

Proactive risk management safeguards program success. This systematic approach starts with comprehensive threat identification, encompassing financial, technical, and resource constraints. Each risk is then evaluated based on likelihood and impact, prioritizing those most critical. A risk matrix further aids decision-making by categorizing threats by severity. Developing mitigation strategies is essential, encompassing risk reduction, avoidance, transfer, or acceptance with contingency plans. Continuous monitoring and communication ensure risks are tracked, mitigation plans adapted, and stakeholders informed throughout the program lifecycle.