Project risk management is about identifying new risks or changes in the threat level of existing business processes. The challenge for project managers is how to get teams, functional areas, business processes, systems, and vendors aligned to new goals; moreover, how to get the needed transparency into the activities that have been agreed upon in project execution and how to prioritize the issues that surface every step of the way, until the project is completed. The benefits of embedding project risk management are specific and measurable. The PMO can reduce budget overruns and missed deadlines--their biggest concerns--if uncertain project events are dealt with in a proactive manner, directly translating to the organization's bottom line. Helping the PMO to formalize their risk management practices dramatically reduces the team's stress of "fighting fires" by repairing damage due to preventable risks before they manifest.
Step 1: Formalize project risk management every project manager is already using risk management techniques in their job informally. Relay to project managers that not formalizing this existing work with methodology and software is as inefficient as doing project schedule in their head as they go along and not using a Gantt chart software package. Studies have shown that formalizing risk management reduces overall project management task work by 30-60%.
Step 2: Project Risk Analysis: Risk managers can help project managers very early on in their