Managing Project Risk

Running head: MANAGING PROJECT RISK

Managing Project Risk

MANAGING PROJECT RISK

Planning a project is never easy and with the prospect that a project manager may be managing multiple projects at one time it is imperative that it is done as completely and accurately as possible. Over the last two years Sylvan has conducted consumer research, expert consultant work, input from the community and data trends which have identified to Sylvan marketing and public relations, areas that could benefit performance. Sylvan Learning Centers is just entering into a joint marketing and public relations project that will undertake the key areas identified by in this 2005 research study to improve Sylvan's market appeal. This new joint advertising campaign will re-energize the Sylvan Brand with powerful, one-of-a-kind advertising in both the United States and Canada and hit the market with hard-hitting messages to deliver improved marketing performance from new and improved media channels. As a part of more fully understanding this Sylvan project, This paper will outline the specific tasks and milestones that are required for this project, five project risks, an assessment of each risk's impact on project outcomes, mitigation strategies for each risk and a change management plan. In addition, three key learning points from the, "Managing Project Risk" will be identified that can be applied to the project plan (University of Phoenix rEsource, 2006).

Tasks and Milestones

This project is sponsored by the President of Sylvan Learning Centers, Peter J. Cohen and includes a steering committee including the Director of Human Resources, Vice President of Finance, Director of Information Technology and the Vice President of Corporate Governance (Sylvan Learning Centers, 2006). Through this governance committee along with the Project Management Office the project has been broken down into four teams each with different tasks and milestones. This decision was made based on historical data from other projects which allowed the project to come to market as quickly as possible and assign resources in areas that are appropriate to the strengths of the current user and technical staff.

The project starts with direction from the steering committee and results of the qualitative and quantitative data from the Sylvan marketing studies. The ad company that Sylvan is using has given many different ideas on the creative pieces of marketing. From here the project, steering and PMO office will approve within the first 30 days the creative advertising to be used by Sylvan to include logo, mascot(s), national creative television advertising, national radio advertising and web-site design. This information will then be used by each of the three teams to use as a template for writing and launching their project. The three teams are: radio, television and web for national and local level. Unique to the project structure is the national and local website projects. The local website will be dependent on the completion of the national website for creative look and feel prior to linking the local sites. The local site should have a similar flow with each local site the same.

Project Risks

As part of the overall plan, the steering committee, project team and vendors brainstormed to identify potential risks to the project. Authors Gray and Larson indicate, "The chances of a risk event occurring (e.g., an error in time estimates, cost estimates, or design technology) are the greatest in the concept, planning, and start-up phases of the project" (Gray, Larson, 2006, p.207). Therefore, these risks were identified prior to the project beginning and as a part of the overall plan. This is one of the largest projects that Sylvan has ever undertaken. The company cannot afford to have this project fail nor can it be done without the utmost of quality. Therefore, the company not only used brainstorming to come up with their risk list but also used historical data from the PMO on other projects along with a risk assessment list provided by the advertising agency. Their top five were as follows:

1. Are the overall cost estimates correct?

2. Does our current staff have the knowledge to complete their tasks?

3. What are the guarantees that this new advertising will appeal to parents and bring more students?

4. Are the time estimates too tight?

5. Our home office is located in Maryland. Will there be any delays due to security issues?

Assessment of Risk

The risks identified by the team were then assessed using a risk severity matrix (Gray, Larson, 2006). This matrix uses a red zone to identify major risk, yellow to identify moderate risk and green for minor risk. The team then assigned each risk with its likelihood and impact on Sylvan.

After the team discussed the risks with the project team, time estimates seemed to be the most minor risk. There are many iterations of the creative part of the project which the project needs to only agree upon. Past that point, the technology teams take over to create in the radio, television or web mode that which has already been creatively thought out. In addition, the technology staff is very familiar with projects and subsequent budgets and timelines. Their knowledge of the technology is up-to-date and should not be an issue. However, since the teams are small and have been dedicated to project work for years, the project team felt that new team members are unknown and that this should pose a moderate threat to the project. In addition, security measures within the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area are on high alert. If there are any additional terrorism threats flight delays may cause issues with meeting timelines. Costs are also an issue. Television time is always rising and we have locked in rates for our advertising from the ad agency however, one never knows what additional fees may be involved. And, finally the biggest risk is if the marketing will appeal to the customer.

Mitigation Strategy

According to Gray and Larson, "There are basically two strategies for mitigating risk: (1) reduce the likelihood that the event will occur and/or (2) reduce the impact that the adverse event would have on the project" (Gray, Larson,