ITP-5 – Project Risk Assessment (Individual project)

 

 

 

 

           

 

Case Scenario — Veterinary Clinic Automation

 

 

 

Your team has been asked to prepare a project plan to install IT in a veterinary clinic that is partnering with UMUC’s health care curriculum.  The clinic recently received a monetary grant from UMUC for its first computers and Internet connectivity.  Because of your connection with UMUC, the clinic has selected your company to perform and manage this project.

 

 

 

What we know:  The veterinary clinic consists of 10 vets, 7 animal technicians, and 5 reception and office personnel.  The clinic is housed in a single building with a second/adjacent building for animal boarding and long-term care.  Each vet has his/her own office and there are 8 examination rooms, 3 operating rooms, 3 diagnostic rooms for x-rays and tests. 

 

 

 

The clinic uses paper records and schedules.   

 

                                                                                  (PMBOK

 

 

 

 

 

Addresses Course Outcomes #4c and 6e

 

IMPORTANT: FIRST, read the general introduction and instructions for the course-long Integrated Team Project (ITP) in Content.

 

 

 

Assignment for the ITP-5 Project Deliverable

 

Review your previous deliverables and the overview of the ITP posted in the Syllabus and in the previous project assignments.

 

Please remember that every assignment in this course follows APA format and must include a cover sheet.  In addition, as a senior-level course, the text document should include a brief summary of the PURPOSE of the document and terms and discussion should be provided to ensure that the reader and the writer are on a common level of understanding.

 

Then using your team’s ITP WBS, develop and submit a project risk register in MS Excel:

 

•      A project risk register, from the textbook, from the classroom material, from www.pmi.org, or from other valid research, that meets the following requirements.  .

 

•      In MS Excel, the risk register should be populated with the risks for at least 3 tasks of different types and categories at EACH level of the decomposition in the WBS (no fewer than 12 tasks must have risks identified — 3 major tasks, 3 sub-tasks, 3 lowest level leaf node tasks or sub-sub tasks, and also at least 3 risks at the overall project level (Level 0)).  (Note that this is minimum required, along with the other things below, to earn a satisfactory score.  To earn a better score, you would want to include more risks at each level, and some of the additional things mentioned below.) 

 

·         Risks may include, for example, technical IT risks, external risks that impact the project but which are outside the PM’s control, project management risks, risks of project changes, and so forth. 

 

•      Please note that a task could have more than one risk!  The risk register must include MITIGATION strategies to eliminate or minimize the risk (risk handling procedures, mitigations) and contingency plans (what you will do if the risk happens).  If the format you are using does not include these columns, please add them, then be clear on the difference between mitigation and contingency.  Address what aspect of the project will be affected by each mitigation action – cost, schedule, or scope.  Provide a recommendation for whether or not the mitigation action should be implemented, remembering that EACH mitigation will impact the project’s scope, cost or schedule. 

 

•      The risk register should also include:

 

o    Title or description of item or TASK at risk.  (This is the WBS task in which the risk occurs, not the risk itself.)

 

o    Also include the WBS NUMBER to designate which WBS level the task is at.   o    Description of the RISK (What is the risk? What is at risk of happening?) (This identifies the nature of the risk itself, not the task.)

 

o    Risk category or type (e.g., technical risks, quality risks, financial risks, external risks, organization risks, project risks, quality risks, other risks, etc)

 

o    Consequences, impact, or cost at risk (adjectival or numeric)

 

o    Likelihood or probability (adjectival or numeric)

 

o    Initial risk score (or “risk product”, consequence times likelihood)

 

o    Risk handling category (avoidance, mitigation, transfer, acceptance, etc.)

 

o    Risk handling / control / action plan, including a column for each:

 

§  the mitigation action that, if taken, would minimize the impact of the risk. (This is MANDATORY – how will you AVOID the risk??)

 

§  cost and time to mitigate. 

 

§  contingency plan – what the team will do if the risk actually happens (This is mandatory – what will you do to minimize harm if the risk happens?).

 

o    See the textbook for definitions and details

 

o    Designation of risk “owner” or risk manager (best designated by title or role rather than by individual’s name)

 

o     You should include such things as:

 

§  Additional risks

 

§  Risks for additional tasks

 

§  Results of handling each risk after controls are implemented:

 

§  Consequences or cost at risk (Mandatory)

 

§  Likelihood or probability (Mandatory)

 

§  Final risk score or product (consequence times likelihood) (Mandatory)

 

§  Quantitative numerical consequences, probabilities, and risk scores (rather than subjective, qualitative, or adjectival assessments)

 

§  Additional narrative discussion of each risk, handling method, etc.

 

§  Total of all the risk scores (risk products) for the entire project after risk controls are implemented, in dollars.

 

Be sure to define terms, especially how you determined risk rankings and risk scores.

 

o    o    See the textbook for details

 

•      Also include some risks associated with the general ability to complete the project successfully.  (You might consider these risks at Level 0, the root level, of the WBS, affecting the entire project.)

 

•      Finally, if you quantitatively calculated the risk product in those terms, then what is the total of all the initial risk scores (risk products) for the entire project, in dollars.

 

 

 

Questions:  In an accompanying Word doc or text submission, answer the following questions: 

 

1.    Which risks (and associated tasks) would be the most threatening to the success of the project and why? This discussion should be very specific to tasks and their associated risks.

 

2.    Which top THREE mitigations (and associated tasks) and risk handling plans should be implemented, and why?  Remember that mitigation actions will affect cost, schedule and/or scope – so discuss what can you AFFORD to do based on the likelihood and impact of the risk?

 

3.    What are the TOTAL impacts on cost, schedule and scope for the project if the recommended risk controls and mitigation actions are taken?  If you use costs, how did you calculate the cost? Will the risk handling improve things or make them worse?  That is, will the project cost more and/or be less successful because of risk handling, or will it cost less and/or be more successful because of risk handling?  How so?  Explain.

 

4.    How did you determine those costs and impacts?  Please describe. What is the benefit of mitigating risks that are identified for mitigation?

 

5.  If your project could only afford $20,000 for mitigation actions, which risks (identify associated tasks) would be implemented?

 

6.  If your project could only tolerate a 5 day delay related to mitigation actions, which risks (identify associated tasks) would be implemented?

 

7.  What would be the most expensive (time and or schedule) contingency action/plan?  Identify the associated task and explain why this contingency would be the most expensive in terms of time or schedule.

 

Submit the document(s) in your Assignment Folder.

 

 

 

Approximate breakdown by areas include:

 

o    General: Structure, Format, Mechanics, Style (~5%)

 

o    Risk register (~84%)

 

o    Questions (~10%)