Quotes and Memorable Moments
When is it not about risk?
Sharyn was facilitating some discussions about the management of plantation projects
in the primary sector in September and one participant was struggling with the approach
adopted to manage the risks to these projects. He commented "Why do we treat risk
separately? We're doing it all the time. The majority of work that comprises our project
is about reducing risk exposure".
This comment was refreshing to hear. Risk analysis and mitigation is so entrenched
in this sector's day to day operations, that it is not a conscious element of their work.
Naturally, when they approach a project, it doesn't make sense to treat risk as a separate
element.
We often observe the opposite scenario with business projects. In these situations, risk
management is "done" via a one-off discussion in the early days of the project.
Often risk mitigation actions aren't transferred to current workplans, or monitored and
evaluated. Subsequent analysis of new and emerging threats is often neglected, as is
the reassessment of the initial risk analysis.