Article / Exercise : Managing Risks and Issues
Free Risk Register Courtesy of pduOTD.com & Susanne Madsen
Nine Page Article with Exercise & Template by: Susanne Madsen
Category C PDU 1 PDU (article) to 6 PDUs (complete the exercise) – Free PDUs

Susanne Madsen provides a nine step to exercise to help you and your team “proactively identify and mitigate risks” allowing fewer issues to arise on your projects.

“The effective management of risks is all about being proactive as you need to identify and tackle potential concerns before they turn into problems. The effective management of issues requires you to stay focused and calm whilst deciding on the best option for moving forward.” – @Susanne Madsen

Risk and issue management is one of the most fundamental parts of a project manager’s job. It is an activity which needs to be attended to weekly, or sometimes even daily or hourly. Risk and issue management is an area where your positive and proactive mindset will really be put to the test.

Although the Project Manager is responsible for the facilitation and management of the risks and issues process, they cannot and should not do it in isolation.

“When you involve your team and stakeholders, not only do you improve the quality of the process, you also help promote a shared sense of responsibility for the project’s successes and failures”.

The process for managing a risk is different from that of managing an issue. This exercise will help you to identify and describe the differences between a risk and an issue and which management techniques to use for each.

Susanne also reminds us that risks don’t always mean BAD …. that risks can be positive. Identifying the positive risks and knowing how you would handle that situation should it arise is often an overlooked part of risk management.

Choose a project you are working on and go through this exercise to:

1. Understand the differences between a Risk and an Issue
2. Carry out a thorough analysis of your risks and issues
3. Identify what their ultimate source is.
4. Determine the severity and probability
5. Get to the root cause and take action at that level.

Click to download Susanne’s Risk Register for your use
Shown as example – Exercise Page 2

I love Susanne’s writing/mentoring style and I know you will too. She has written a practical workbook filled with tips, tools and techniques for everyone who wants to coach themselves and others to become highly valued and truly successful project managers and leaders.

I had the pleasure of reviewing a pre-release copy of the Project Management Coaching Workbook:

“Whether you are building your own project management career development plan or managing the professional development of project managers, this book is a must-have. It provides a unique methodology for developing the task management and team management/leadership skills of the project manager and would be an excellent tool for formal professional development and mentoring programs.”

— Martin Chernenkoff, founder of pduOTD.com – PDU of the Day

Presenter/Author: Susanne Madsen ( LinkedIn @SusanneMadsen ) is a sought after project manager, mentor and coach and author with over 15 years experience in managing and rolling out large change management programs. A PRINCE2 practitioner and a qualified corporate & executive coach, she works as a Program Director for one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Her newest book The Project Management Coaching Workbook is not to be missed. Susanne is dedicated to helping organizations deliver better change management programs and is passionate about coaching and mentoring project managers to improve their leadership capabilities, performance and well being.

PDU Category C documentation details:

Process Groups: Initiating & Executing, Planning

Knowledge Areas: 10 – Communication 11 – Risk

• 10.2 Plan Communications
• 10.4 Manage Stakeholders Expectations
• 11.1 Plan Risk Management
• 11.2 Identify Risks
• 11.5 Plan Risk Responses

As a Category C ‘Self Directed Learning Activity’ remember to document your learning experience and its relationship to project management for your ‘PDU Audit Trail Folder’ To easily document this activity place the notes and risk planning/mitigation information from this exercise in your folder

Click to download Susanne’s Risk Register for your use

Click to access Susanne’s Managing Risks and Issues article /exercise.

Great Articles! Click here to go to Susanne Madsen’s site

Online Webinar – Presented by: AccuRev
Duration: 1 Hours 1Category C Self Directed Learning PDUs

As software development teams expand and become distributed across multiple locations, new challenges begin to surface. Managing the software development process becomes more complicated, particularly if the team is working on parallel releases.

In this informative webinar, Chris Lucca, (LinkedIn profile) Technical Evangelist for AccuRev, and Phil Marshall, (LinkedIn profile) Senior Product Marketing Manager for Black Duck, share 5 tips to avoiding or easing the complications often associated with distributed teams.

Topics covered include:

• Searching and indexing your code base
• Virtual co-location
• Process visualization across the entire team
• Easy code reuse and code sharing
• Creating a catalog of internal code

PDU Category C documentation details:

Process Groups: Planning Executing

Knowledge Areas: 4 – Integration 9 – Human Resources

• 4.3 Direct and Manage Project Execution
• 9.4 Manage Project Team

As a Category C, ‘Self Directed Learning’, activity remember to document your learning experience and its relationship to project management for your ‘PDU Audit Trail Folder.’

Click to register and view Managing Your Software Development Process Across Distributed Teams: Top 5 Tips

Online Webinar – Presented by: Cornerstone On Demand
Duration: 1 hour webinar Credits: 1 PDU Category C Free
Recorded: Dec 14th 2011

Performance reviews should be used to develop people—not to evaluate them.

Too many companies still employ a performance management system that is more focused on judgment and evaluation than on coaching and supporting.

Join Cornerstone for this TrainingIndustry.com webinar, as best-selling business author Ken Blanchard teams up with Garry Ridge, (LinkedIn profile) CEO of WD-40 Company to suggest a better way to manage performance.

Drawing on the principles from their best-selling book Helping People Win at Work: A Business Philosophy Called “Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A” , Blanchard and Ridge will share the best-in-class techniques and day-to-day management processes that top companies like WD-40 use to create an engaging work environment with a strong focus on performance.

Participants will learn how to:

• Transform performance reviews into a powerful competitive advantage
• Set clear goals that provide people with actionable performance standards
• Provide year-round coaching that moves people through all four stages of mastery
• Build an engaging, performance-based culture that encourages non-stop learning

Don’t miss this opportunity to improve the way you coach and support the people in your organization. See performance review in a new light. When you help people “Win at Work”,” both the organization and employees benefit.

The Presenters:

Garry Ridge: CEO WD40 Company As the CEO of the Company, Garry offers the Board an important Company-based perspective. In addition, his particular knowledge of the Company’s international markets and industry position provides the Board with valuable insight.

Ken Blanchard (@kenblanchard) is the cofounder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, an international management training and consulting firm.He also hosts a twitter account on leadership topics – The Blanchard LeaderChat – @LeaderChat.

He is a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, and a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees. He is cofounder of the Center for FaithWalk Leadership, which is dedicated to helping leaders walk their talk in the marketplace. His books include The One Minute Manager®, coauthored with Spencer Johnson, which has sold more than 13 million copies and remains on best-seller lists, to Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service® also Gung Ho!® Turn On the People in Any Organization, and Whale Done! : The Power of Positive Relationships!

PDU Category C documentation details:

Process Groups: Executing

Knowledge Areas: 4- Integration 9 – Human Resources

• 4.3 Direct and Monitor Project Execution
• 9.3 Develop Project Team
• 9.4 Manage Project Team

As a Category C ‘Self Directed Learning Activity’ remember to document your learning experience and its relationship to project management for your ‘PDU Audit Trail Folder’

Click toView Helping People Win at Work: A Ken Blanchard Webinar

Online Webinar – Presented by American Management Association
Duration: 1 Hour Credits: 1 PDU Category C – Free PDU
Recording Date: August 07, 2008

Although the AMA is an REP  (REP 1294) this opportunity may not have a course number Contact the AMA for further information.

The truth is that doing more things faster
IS NOT the path to improving your productivity.

In today’s world of e-mails, instant messages, cell phone interruptions, and get-it-done-now expectations, focus and attention are the keys to personal and professional productivity.

To be more effective you need better ways of prioritizing your time, communicating with others and absorbing information. In this Webcast, you’ll gain powerful tips and rules of thumb you can use to take control of your juggling act!

What You Will Learn:

• How to energize and reenergize yourself for greater productivity
• Holistic strategies for balancing the core areas of your life
• Tips that can boost the value of your short- and long-term plans
• Effective strategies for managing multiple priorities and overcoming procrastination
• A 9-step formula for efficient daily planning
• ………… And much, much more!

Explore a number of proven techniques for meeting your daily tasks and challenges head-on. This could be the most important hour you spend this year!

Presenter: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore (LinkedIn profile) is the founder of the Personal Productivity Institute, an organization that teaches productivity tools and techniques to participants at major corporations. He is the author of The Productivity Handbook: New ways of leveraging your time, information, and communications; he is frequently featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe and on PBS. Donald is also an attorney and an adjunct professor.

PDU Category C documentation details

Process Groups: Executing

Knowledge Areas: 9 – Human Resources

• 9.3 Develop Project Team
• 9.4 Manage Project Team

As a Category C ‘Self Directed Learning Activity’ remember to document your learning experience and its relationship to project management for your ‘PDU Audit Trail Folder’

Click to view Beyond Time Management: Leveraging Your Productivity 24/7