ABSTRACT
There are a number of important impediments to successful implementation of project risk management (PRM) in project organisations. Training is a cardinal activity to enable project teams overcome such impediments, and to help them to take full advantage of the benefits of PRM. An introductory training/motivational course focusing on the following elements is required for project organisations with little experience in risk management as a complement to project management:
There is room for widely different interpretations of goals, methods and means of a PRM process. This is due to the widespread and diverse use of the concepts of risk and uncertainty.
The objective of PRM is to prepare structured information that enables proactive decisions. This statement is however strikingly similar to the objectives of any management team, and it is therefore necessary to demonstrate and exemplify how PRM represents added value in relation to traditional project management.
The means and methods of PRM depend upon structuring and some degree of quantification of subjective and “fuzzy” information in order to form decision support. Such methods however interfere with traditional technical and administrative background of the project management, where numbers, expressions and formulae are held to be the primary basis for decisions.
The initial implementation of PRM in organisations is usually met with inertia due to lack of understanding around the three issues above. A successful introductory training course should clarify these points.
