Sunday, October 7, 2012

Steps of Risk Management


The steps involved in risk management include management planning, identification, response planning, monitoring and control. These steps of risk management are briefly described below:

The above steps of risk management result in various deliverables in each step. Those deliverables are the outputs generated while going through the risk methodology. They are listed as below:

 



The above mentioned steps of risk management are performed and handled by various designated persons who have their role assigned for each process. Given below is the brief outline of the process against roles that are responsible for performing that process successfully:
 


 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Risk Management


Risk is defined as follows:

“A risk is an uncertain potential condition or event that, if it occurs and is not mitigated, may have negative or positive impact on the project objectives.”

Or

“A measure of the inability to achieve program objectives with defined cost and schedule constraints.”

Types of Risk:

Risk can be either positive or negative. Positive risk provides an opportunity to be pursued whereas negative risk is one that raises an issue which should be mitigated or avoided based on the criticality.

Example of Positive Risk - “If we buy pumps for all our facilities bundled together in one purchase order, we can obtain a volume discount.”

Example of Negative Risk - “Each day that a critical piece of equipment is late in reaching the site, will throw the start up schedule off by these days.”

Levels of Risk:

There are four levels of risk including strategic, program, projects and operational. These are described below:

Strategic Risk:

Risks that ensure that business survives with long term stability and security of the organization are strategic risks.

Program Risk:

Program risks are involved in the management of interdependency between a wider business environment and projects.

Projects:

At project level, risks exist in creating progress and project plans.

Operational Risks: these are the risks which lye upon supplier management, technical faults etc.

Risk Methodology:

It is the procedures and practices that allow managers to take preventive measures to mitigate risk well in time before they arise or when they tend to be affected.

The practices of risk management are used both in private and public sectors including activities like insurance, finance and investment, public organization, governments and health care etc.

Management planning now encounters risk management as its essential part. Key people involved in risk management include process owners, procurement teams, business managers, strategic owners and key suppliers.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Project Failure: Case Study

Today, I am going to share a case study of a software project that failed to be delivered in time and within budget. The case study will highlight its causes and future recommendations.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tips to Improve Written Communication


Many people fall into habit of using technical jargon that can be understood only by experts in same field.
In written communication, writers ignore the conclusion by discarding it from the report, or write in a too wordy manner with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and wrong sentence structure. 



In order to improve written communication, some of the tips to follow are:


·         Use simple words & phrases.
·         Use short & familiar words
·         Use personal pronouns (such as “you”) whenever appropriate.
·         Give illustrations & examples; use charts.
·         Use short sentences & paragraphs.
·         Use active verbs, as in “Manager plan…”
·         Avoid unnecessary words.


Managers have the absence of significant knowledge to make effective decisions.  They are mostly overloaded with too much of the information then is actually required. They should take into account, the following managerial tasks to be successful:
  • Managers should distinguish in selecting information.
  • What do I really need to know for my job?
  • What would happen if I did not get this information on regular basis?
  • Not maximum information but relevant information.
  • No universally applicable communication system; must be tailored to manger’s needs.



Sunday, August 19, 2012

Effective Organizational Communication


Organizational communication can be made effective by encouraging an environment of open communication. The communication should commit to ethics and proficiency should exist in communication technology. Dynamics of intercultural communication should be understood. Messages should be created and processed efficiently and an audience centred approach should be used while communicating.  

 Tips to Achieve Communication



·         Communicate a clear vision.
·         Focus attention on the customer.
·         Reinforce the vision by taking action.
·         Bring in competent skilled people.
·         Move information quickly.
·         Focus on the right things.
·         Check all organizational system.
·         Invite involvement.
  Ways to Improve Organizational Communication


·         Emphasis on teamwork
·         Improve management system
·         Change the organizational culture.
·         Improve reporting system
·         Focus on employees’ participation & involvement.
·         Flatter hierarchy.
·         Cross functional teams.
·         Fewer controls.


Types of Communicating in an Organization

       ·         External communication network.
       ·         Internal communication network.

Organizational Skills

In order to improve the effectiveness of communication for both the sender and receiver, following skills are required:
         ·         Follow up

         ·         Regulating information flow
         ·         Understanding richness different media.



Saturday, August 18, 2012

Communication and Management




Managers in an organization basically perform three jobs that involve collecting information, confirming that information and promoting interpersonal unity. The information is collected through multiple mediums like phone calls, conversations, databases, internet, reports, documents etc. this information is then conveyed to relevant stake holders. In addition, managers motivate their resources through conversations wither formal or informal. In all these jobs, communication forms the basis.

The role of communication is in coordination, delegation, development etc. It is required in every aspect of organization including establishment of organizational standards, taking corrective actions after reviewing performance, developing reward system etc. thus, managers coordinate and influence their subordinates through means of communication. But to have an effective communication is what matters.

The key points in the effectiveness of management through communication involve the following:

·         Most of the time at work is spent in communication.
·         As a manager, success is dependent on effective communication.
·         With the increase in globalization, communication has become more vital for diversity of workplace specialization.
·         It is a must tool for those who intend to be in contact with the remaining world.
·         Among other factors, it is communication as well that can either break or make the career of an organization.

In a management process, role of communication is depicted in the figure below:



In order to be an effective manager, a manager requires information to carry out managerial activities. If there is an overload of information, he may lack vital information that is required for decision making.



Friday, August 17, 2012

Communication Management : Introduction

Communication

As mentioned in my previous blog, communication management is one of the core areas of project management. 

Communication is a process in which one person or group transmits some type of information to another person or group. In terms of organizations, communication is a process through which things are got done. When a message is sent in a way that the receiver gets the message in as close meaning as it is in actual then communication is effective.

 

Communication in Organizations:

Communication plays a significant role in management as it deals with all the organization processes thus carrying on activities within the organization. The purpose is to have a certain degree of accuracy in making participants understand what is to be done. Communication within an organization enables information to flow faster and avoids having short stoppage on fast moving production lines which in turn can result in loss of output if not communicated effectively. It is the communication that fulfills the organizational needs of getting relevant information, the type of information required that can assist managers to make effective decisions and to get the information from all relevant departments.

Relationship of communication with the organizational goals is depicted below:




Elements of Communication:
Several elements of contribution collectively make it effective. They include the following:


·         Encoding
·         Perception& Interpretation
·         Nonverbal Communications
·         Communicator
·         Channel
·         Message
       Business authorities lay importance to communication.  Some of them express it as follows:

“There may be no single thing more important in our efforts to achieve meaningful work and fulfilling relationships than to learn and practice the art of communication.” [The Art of Leadership- Max De Pree, Author]

“Top executives from Fortune 500 companies rate communications skills as the most important quality for business leaders.” [New York Times - Business Section]