Increasing Performance Through Project Risk Management
Every failed project had a risk register nobody read.
Almost every project post mortem finds that somebody saw it coming. It was often written down. The register was built in week one, filed, and never opened again, and the risk that sank the project was either on it and ignored, or was the one nobody wanted to say out loud.
This workshop treats risk management as a decision-making discipline rather than documentation. Participants learn to surface risks that are politically uncomfortable, assess them by likelihood and exposure rather than instinct, and distinguish the risk to actively manage from the one to accept and move on. Over two days there is room to work through their own projects properly.
Senior leaders and program managers use this on initiatives where failure is expensive and predictable in hindsight. HR and learning and development leaders use it where the same categories of problem keep recurring across different projects, which usually means the risk process is theater. It is the risk-focused companion to Project Management Fundamentals and Improving Project Communications and Stakeholder Management.
Content, scenarios, and examples are built around your actual work before delivery. Most groups train live online, and on-site in-person delivery is available by request. This workshop is available by request only, with a three participant minimum, and sits alongside our other leadership development workshops.
This course includes
- Live, instructor led workshop delivered over four 4-hour sessions
- Risk identification and assessment on a real initiative you bring
- Techniques for surfacing risks that carry a social cost to naming
- A working risk register with triggers that you complete during the workshop
- Digital learning materials and take home reference guides
- Certificate of completion for every participant
Description
Day one is identification, and the hard part is not technique. Participants work on their own initiative and practice surfacing the risks that are awkward: the dependency on a team that has missed every deadline, the sponsor who may not last the project, the assumption everyone is making and nobody has tested. They learn why the most dangerous risks are the ones with a social cost to naming.
The rest of day one is assessment. Participants learn to score by likelihood and impact rather than by how recently they were burned, calculate exposure so that a high-probability nuisance does not outrank a low-probability catastrophe, and recognize when they are anchoring on the last thing that went wrong.
Day two is response and maintenance. Participants build responses with triggers, so a mitigation fires on a condition rather than on somebody remembering. They practice escalating a risk that a sponsor does not want escalated, running a review that changes decisions, and keeping a register alive past week one. They leave with a working register for a real project.
What You'll Learn at a Glance
- Surface risks that are politically uncomfortable to name
- Test the assumption everyone is making and nobody has checked
- Score risk by likelihood and exposure rather than by recent experience
- Tell a risk to actively manage from one to accept and move on
- Build responses that trigger on a condition, not on someone remembering
- Escalate a risk a sponsor does not want escalated
- Keep a risk register working past week one
Details
Duration
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this workshop. It is designed for managers, program leads, and senior staff accountable for delivery. Teams that need the underlying project structure first can pair it with Project Management Fundamentals.
Your Leadership Training Goals, Customized to You
DWC provides expert leadership training aligned to your organization’s needs, your funding requirements, and your participants’ skill levels. With customization at every level, from content to scheduling to delivery format, DWC builds leadership training programs that produce measurable outcomes.
20,000+ Participants Trained | 90% Completion Rate | 1,500+ Organizations Served
Tuition
Increasing Performance Through Project Risk Management is available by request only, scheduled around your team.
- $695 per participant, with a three participant minimum
- Private training: request a custom quote. One on one sessions and teams below the three participant minimum are priced case by case
- Larger groups: request a custom quote. We price larger cohorts case by case based on group size, schedule, and delivery format
- Optional courseware: the Project Risk Management Student Guide (Logical Operations) is available at $60 per participant and is not included in the course price
Colorado state agencies, higher education institutions, cities, counties, school districts, and certified nonprofits may purchase this course directly through our State of Colorado Price Agreement. Request a quote and we will build pricing around your team.