Risk Management on a Satellite Development Project

Risk Management on a Satellite Development Project
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Risk management on a Satellite Development Project
Introduction
While all projects are associated with uncertainties and risks, it is essential to have a risk mitigation plan to minimize project risk, such that it can only reach an acceptable level to both stakeholders and project sponsors. Project risks cannot be fully reduced; they can be mitigated and managed so that their overall impact cannot derail the project objectives. It is for that project managers have devised risk planning and management techniques defined by Kloppenborg and Nkomo (2012) as the tools necessary for the execution of the procedure of defining, predicting, evaluating and assessing the impacts of risks on the projects.
Issues arising from the lack of a risk plan
The leading issue that would have developed as a result of the lack of risk plan for Satellite Development project is increased cost. A lack of risk plan increases the project cost as resources would be required to secure the project against risks (Jeynes, 2013). Since the project had a tight schedule and the risk plan was not executed, it would cost the project managers more resources in securing the project because the uncertainties and risks would not have been identified. It was necessary to formulate a risk plan to reduce the cost of the project as avoidable risks are identified at the right time. Risk planning, assisted the project to follow the pathways with fewer risks and uncertainties leading to avoidance of the project extending beyond the stipulated date, hence saving on the cost of production and reduce exhaustion of budget reserves. The second issue that would arise if there was no risk plan is the lack of a database tool. The consequences of the absence of database tool are the difficulties in the formulation of priority report for identification, evaluation, and estimation of all project risks.
The other consequence of the absence of database tool is the failure and constraints among the project managers to make project decisions. As suggested by Power (2012), a database tool is essential in risk planning and management for the establishment of a common working mode among the project managers for resolving project risk that is of high priority. Lastly, if there was no risk plan, the project managers would encounter difficulties in identifying and analyzing foreseen risks of the project. The aspect goes hand in hand with the other issue that without the risk plan, Satellite Development Project managers would lack the chance of highlighting key areas of the project with high probability of being affected by risks. The issues would occur since risk plan has imperative functions in project management as proposed by Jeynes (2013) that it is an integrated system and mechanism utilized in managing risks.
Value of risk plan
Resources, effort, costs and time are integral components of a project that need to be considered for effective implementation. Risk plan assists project managers managing the four elements as proposed by Power (2012) in his definition of the risk plan as an integrated tool for effective management of project scope, cost and time constraints. Risk planning is not only crucial in ensuring a constant availability of resources for the project, but also assist in assuring effective project quality. With respect to time, the value of risk plan is in terms of its usefulness in establishing and managing responses towards project uncertainties and risks when they transpire. Risk plan is also valuable as it assists the project managers in viewing uncertainties and risks, inputting new risks and providing projected responses (Power, 2012). In terms of effort, risk plan is valuable in streamlining the risks associated with the project and reduce their effort of coming up with decisions for mitigating the risks. In a nutshell, the value of risk plan is not only explained in terms of how it provides assistance with planning and risk management plan, but also can be described based on its assistance in dealing with project alterations, resource constraints and in handling risks that may occur in project execution.
Since risks and uncertainties are the potential aspects that derail a project from the critical path identified, as the project manager, I would I have strategic risk mitigation and management tools. I would also ensure that I advise the project implementation team to have futuristic mindsets to facilitate thinking in how-comes and what-if manner such that all probable risks are identified. Unclear roles and positions for team members, miscommunication, and misconstruing information are the factors that derail a project from the set critical path, and they are the key issues that I would address if I were the project manager.
Assessing the risk management level
According to Kloppenborg and Nkomo (2012), risk management is an incessant process, and the determination of the level that is required for a particular project demands a clear and in-depth comprehension of the project and the critical path it will follow to determine risks associated with the project. The assessment of the risk management level should start at the onset of the project planning to identify the requirements and needs for combating first-hand risks. The analysis of the risk will reveal the intensity of the risks and the extent to which it can affect the project implementation or derail the project from the critical path. There are three basic levels of ris...