Leveraging Project Outsiders for Risk Identification and Management

by Tim Lister

When people tell me they are already practicing risk management on their projects, more often than not my skepticism is justified since all they are actually accomplishing is a cursory job of risk identification. The typical half-hearted risk management usually goes like this: the standard software management process calls for risk management; so early on in the project, a risk list is spun out, the risk management task is checked as done, and everyone goes back to work on the project.