So many risks in the Kronos™ implementation project -- so little time. Wikipedia identifies project risk as something that "can be defined as an unforeseen event or activity that can impact the project's progress, result or outcome in a positive or negative way." The question I have for you is:
The problem, of course, is that many Kronos projects are being managed with less consideration for the risks than reasonable. Why? Well it simply takes a lot of work. Of course like so many other important Kronos implementation topics the work needs to be done to keep the project on course. But it's still not done. Risky business in my opinion.
Wikipedia again -- "Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities." I'd like to outline a very short description of the tasks needed on your plan related to this idea of risk management and hopefully generate some discussion about best practices.
1. Perform a risk assessment - This document identifies the risks and gives you a chance to prioritize, assign mitigation strategies, guide monitoring and more. Good stuff and a requirement for any project of size.
Consider project scope, deliverables, timeline, resources (including Kronos consultants), external integrations, and external projects going on at the same time or "near" our project. Think about factors such as the project's strategic risk, operational and tactical risks. Financial, compliance and political factors must be also considered.
2. Add controls into your project plan to track and manage potential and actual risks.
3. Regularly meet to review the risks list, looking for those that are becoming issues that need more than your mitigation plan.
So, there is much more to managing risk but I want to leave this open to others. Chime in? Help answer some questions for everyone.
Question #1 = "If I have a small project do I really need to do this?"
Question #2 = If I have a Kronos Consulting firm or Kronos Solution Consultants doing this work do I need to make sure this is being done?
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