Client projects can be complex and challenging, with many different factors that can contribute to workload, technical debt, and risk. Sometimes as PM/Agile professionals we get thrown into the mix after the project has started only to find it was not scoped out properly. It is a special gift if we get to start the project from the begining properly. Remember, It is OK to pause, inspect, and adapt to new findings and find better ways of working.
When assessing hidden risk on technical client projects, the following people should be present for the meeting:
- Project manager: The project manager is responsible for the overall success of the project, so they need to be involved in all aspects of risk management.
- Technical lead: The technical lead is responsible for the technical aspects of the project, so they can provide valuable insights into potential hidden risks.
- Business analyst: The business analyst is responsible for understanding the client's needs and requirements, so they can identify potential risks that may arise from those needs.
- Client representative: The client representative is someone who is familiar with the project and can provide insights from the client's perspective.
- Other stakeholders: Other stakeholders may also be invited to the meeting, depending on the nature of the project. For example, if the project involves a new technology, a representative from the IT department may be invited. You should spend the first 2 weeks of your project getting intel on all of the key stakeholders and try to meet with them to introduce yourself and get their perspecptive on the project.
The type of meeting that should be held for a hidden risk assessment is a brainstorming session. This is a meeting where the attendees are encouraged to come up with as many ideas as possible, without judgment. The goal is to identify all potential risks, even if they seem unlikely.
Once all of the potential risks have been identified, the attendees can begin to assess the probability and impact of each risk. They can also develop mitigation plans for the most critical risks.
Here are some tips for conducting a successful hidden risk assessment meeting:
- Start by creating a safe space where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas. This means emphasizing that there are no bad ideas and that all contributions are valued.
- Encourage brainstorming by asking open-ended questions. For example, you could ask the attendees to imagine what could go wrong with the project and what the consequences would be.
- Capture all of the ideas on a whiteboard or flip chart. This will help to keep track of the discussion and to identify common themes.
- Once all of the ideas have been captured, start to group them into categories. This will help to make the list more manageable and to identify the most critical risks.
- Assess the probability and impact of each risk. This will help you to prioritize the risks and to develop mitigation plans.
- Develop mitigation plans for the most critical risks. Mitigation plans should identify what steps will be taken to reduce the probability or impact of the risk.
- Review and update the risk assessment regularly. As the project progresses, new risks may emerge or the likelihood of existing risks may change. It is important to review and update the risk assessment regularly to ensure that it is still accurate.
To successfully manage and deliver client projects, it is important to have a good understanding of these risk factors as they could come back to bite you, unravel the project, cause waste and cost loads of extra money in time, technology to bridge the gaps, and resources. In your meetings try to gather information on the following:
- The workload of a client project can be estimated by breaking down the project into smaller tasks and estimating the time required to complete each task. This can be done using a variety of techniques, such as work breakdown structures (WBS), task lists, and Gantt charts.
- Once the workload has been estimated, it is important to compare it to the available resources and timeline. If the workload is too high, the project may be at risk of slipping or going over budget. In this case, it may be necessary to adjust the scope of the project, increase the resources, or extend the timeline.
- Technical debt is the accumulation of poorly designed code, shortcuts, and other technical issues that can make a software system difficult to maintain and evolve. Technical debt can increase the workload of a client project and make it more difficult to deliver on time and within budget.
- To identify technical debt in a client project, it is important to conduct a technical review of the code and architecture. This review can be performed by internal team members or by external consultants.
- Once technical debt has been identified, it is important to prioritize it and develop a plan to address it. Addressing technical debt can be time-consuming and expensive, but it is important to do so in order to avoid future problems.
- Risk is the likelihood of a negative event occurring that could impact the success of a client project. There are a number of different types of risks that can impact client projects, such as technical risks, schedule risks, budget risks, and client risks.
- To identify and assess the risks associated with a client project, it is important to conduct a risk assessment. This assessment should identify all potential risks, assess the likelihood and impact of each risk, and develop mitigation plans for each risk.
- Risk assessments should be conducted on a regular basis to ensure that new risks are identified and that existing risks are reassessed as the project progresses.
Key activities and exercises
The following are some key activities and exercises that can be used to uncover the workload, technical debt, and risk of a client project:
- Requirements gathering: The first step in any client project is to gather requirements from the client. This will help to ensure that the project is aligned with the client's needs and expectations.
- Scope definition: Once the requirements have been gathered, it is important to clearly define the scope of the project. This will help to avoid scope creep and ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget.
- Work breakdown structure (WBS): A WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the project into smaller tasks. This can be used to estimate the workload and identify dependencies between tasks.
- Task lists: Task lists are used to break down the WBS into even smaller tasks. These lists can be used to estimate the time required to complete each task and to assign tasks to team members.
- Gantt charts: Gantt charts are used to visualize the project schedule and to identify dependencies between tasks.
Whilst on the subject of Gantt charts, I recently had the opportunity to use
Smartsheet
and many of you that know me, know I am a big fan of
Atlassian
products, specifically Jira, Confluence, and Align. They are great for putting these together. Smartsheets, on the smaller scale though fit the build and I was quite impressed. It was so much better than MS Project, which always makes me take a deep regretful sigh. I am not a fan. With Smartsheets I was able to do a project plan, timeline, Gannt chart, change log and more. All of which were needed and it was easy to share and hand off. It had a cool GUI as well. I still love my Jira/Confluence with a passion as there are so many ways I can import/export information and admin customizations for clients. As Agile professionals, we are supposed to be people over process and tools, however Jira enables me to do my job with aplomb and I can't wait to play around with AI to see how I can mix it up and add more efficience. My only complaint is I wish they had Retrospective templates in Confluence like Reetro.io. Smart Sheets got my seal of approval though. They had a lot of cool templates as well so it is great for begininers. I will be posting templates like this on my website theveryagilepm.com soon.
- Technical review: A technical review is used to identify technical debt in the code and architecture of a software system.
- Risk assessment: A risk assessment is used to identify and assess the risks associated with a client project.
By conducting these activities and exercises, project managers can gain a better understanding of the workload, technical debt, and risk of a client project. This information can then be used to develop a realistic project plan and to manage the project effectively.
If you have not alread, I suggest to everyone to take the PMI Kickoff Training. It is FREE and you get access to templates and learn how to use them: Free Project Management Course| PMI KICKOFF?
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