Nothing great comes without risk, right? The unfortunate thing about risks is that they usually appear without much prior notice, which can make your business or project vulnerable. That’s why it’s important to be ready and well-prepared with a robust mitigation plan.
The Project Management Institute says that 27% of all businesses always use their risk mitigation practices, 35% use them ‘sometimes’ but only 3% said they would never use a risk mitigation plan. And with 70% of all projects failing with poor assessment of the risks being a big cause, there’s no better excuse to get your mitigation plan sorted, once and for all.
What is a mitigation plan?
A robust mitigation plan accepts the idea that risks are inevitable and ensures you, your team, your practices and processes are ready for when it happens. It gets into the nitty gritty of step-by-step processes, what should be done, when it should be done and identifies the person responsible.
What are the steps to building a successful risk mitigation plan?
In order to consider well-rounded risk mitigation strategies, there are a series of steps that we recommend following when building your plan.
- What are the risks?
Identify what the potential risks are and evaluate them. Are they internal or external? Are they small risks or potentially catastrophic to your business, make a full list.
- Asses the risks in detail
A risk assessment is the only way to truly understand all the potential risks that your business or project might face. Determining the level of risk and how detrimental they can be can help you and your team put the risks into perspective.
- Set the priorities
Rank each of your risks in terms of severity so you can identify what team members will be working on should the worst happen.
- Decide how to handle them
There are various ways you can handle your risks from accepting that they will happen and managing the fall out to transferring the accountability to someone with expert knowledge.
- Make a plan
Your plan should contain all of the actions required to mitigate your risks, think of the who, what, where, when and how when you’re digging into the detail.
- Don’t forget the plan B
You might think that having a risk mitigation plan in place would negate the requirement for a plan B, but that’s the funny thing about risks; they are unpredictable and you need to stay one step ahead. Consider a contingency plan and how this might be triggered as part of plan A.
- Don’t forget about your plan
It’s easy to complete a risk mitigation plan and then file it away, tick it off the list and never have to worry about it again. It’s important that you continue to monitor and review the plan, assess the risks you have outlined and whether anything has changed over time with the development of your business or project.
Finally, if this all sounds like you need some guidance or would like some professional assistance to lay out your risk mitigation strategies, then of course we can help. Evocatus prides themselves on taking a unique approach to risk mitigation which include activities, exercises and rehearsals to ensure you plan truly is robust (it’s also a much more fun way to approach the task at hand!). Testing your risk strategy procedures is key and we’re here to support you on your mission. Read more here and contact us about support.