Download Risk Mitigations and Categories Guide

This is a guide to help you complete the Project Charter Risks/Mitigation strategies.
Risk Category Table*:
The following categories are the project management areas affected by a risk. A risk may impact one or more categories.
Category
Description/Examples
Scope
Items to consider: risk of scope increase: project governance issues, project charter issues, work breakdown structure unclear,
absence of clinicians in the project team, subject matter decision-making process not in place, poor knowledge of the business sector
by the project team, policy failures, scope decision-making process may be delayed, others...
Schedule
Items to consider: risk of schedule slippage or changes, project plan development and execution, change control, lack of experience
in projects of the same size, decision-making process may be delayed, deliverables approval process not followed, no detailed plan in
place, regular project progress reporting against plan not being undertaken, activity list, activity duration estimates, project schedule
and charts, unable to access progress against plan, others...
Other items to consider: is there an integrated deployment plan with all the dependencies between applications aligned and the
timelines and interfaces clearly articulated - are the strategies robust enough to withstand organizational restructuring and has that
risk been factored in - what about other resource impacting events - flu seasons etc
Budget
Items to consider: risk of budget variance, resource requirements, cost estimates identified, cost budget in place, regular project
progress reporting against plan not being undertaken, unable to access progress against plan, the risk of financial losses,
overspending, or the inability to meet budgets and plans, others
People
Items to consider: risk associated with project team skills, resource mix, capacity, clarity of roles and responsibilities,
organization/project governance, project staff know-how and experience, dependency on some key resources, staff/contractor mix
and dependency, resignations, turnovers, inability to hire, lack of skills, strikes, injury others...
Solution
Items to consider: business policies, legislation, legal, architecture and standards risks, performance risks, solution integration risks,
technology risks, operational processes to support business continuity, Information produced or used is incomplete / out-of-date /
inaccurate / irrelevant, this initiative will be in breach of a statute / regulation / contract / MOU, others…
Standards
Items to consider: risks related to standards definition, alignment across domains, versions, others…
Privacy
Items to consider: Enabling policy and regulatory framework including privacy and security - an assessment that all the required
regulatory and policy pieces are in place - such as legislation to cover e-prescribing, scope of practice that is in line with the
application's requirements, privacy risks, Personal/Personal Health Information unauthorized disclosure, others…
Adoption
Stakeholder engagement and alignment - do all the union agreements align with any new roles, changes etc; is there any impact on
scope of practice; are the health care providers ready to accept it and how are they viewing it; have they thought through all impacts
on any master agreements or contracts with the docs; are the private sector provider impacts considered and resolved, are the nurses
sufficiently trained and ready ; does the proposed information flow alter any traditional referral patterns - will docs actually utilize the
systems and have impacts of charges/fees been resolved
Are any fundamental business processes going to change/be impacted, do the providers know and are they ready, are the
dependencies from a program/business perspective thought through and a solid plan transition plan in place; inability to meet
expectations of the public, other governments, ministries, or other stakeholders
Mechanisms for Mitigating Risk
The following are types of mechanisms you might consider to mitigate risk. Under each heading, in parenthesis, are
areas that may be vulnerable to risk events. For instance, there could be a risk of an overrun budget due to high
materials costs. This could be mitigated by exploring more accurate costing methods, or by visiting other suppliers. This
list is not comprehensive, but is intended to help you get started.
People
(capability, commitment)
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Long range planning
Job responsibilities
Training & Development
Skills/Needs
Identification
Incentives
Performance Contracts
Time Management
Staffing Levels
Hiring Practices
Use of outside expertise
Working conditions
Performance
management
Code of conduct
Succession
planning/promotion
Management
communication
Employee Surveys
Leadership
Equipment/Systems
(capability, functionality,
maintenance)
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Needs assessment
Capital Budgeting
Asset inventory systems
Security
Maintenance program
Finance
Depreciation/Obsolescence
Utilization
Asset life cycle
IT Planning/Prioritization
Business requirements
analysis
Systems development
methodology
Change management
Insurance
Equipment Design
Information/Communication
(confidentiality, adequacy, reliability, timeliness)
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Feedback mechanisms
Communication mechanisms
Processes to ensure reliability and validity of information
Filing and record keeping system efficiency (manual &
electronic)
Management information
Status reports
Benchmarking information
Periodic assessment
Costing methods
Performance measures
Activity metrics
Key result indicators
Exception reports
Risk Assessments
Materials/Supplies
(cost, quality, availability)
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Quality inspections
Supplier contracts
Inventory system
Detailed specifications
Multiple sources of supply
External vs. Internal supply
analysis
Supplier certification (ISO)
Security
Storage
Costing methods
Monitoring of defects,
rework, waste, downtime
Supplier evaluation
Structure
(appropriateness of
structures
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Policies
(consistency,
appropriateness)
Internal organizational policies
such as:
Quality
Human Resource
Project Mgt.
Acquisition
Administrative
Employee Conduct
 Supporting guidance on
interpretation
 Operational parameters
 Protocols
 External compliance
requirements
 Standards
 Defined mission, corporate
objectives
Organization structure
Functional and line
reporting
Direction of
communication
Formal accountabilities
and responsibilities
Committee structure
Project structure
Span of control
Decentralization
Geographic locations
Governance models
Segregation of duties
External accountabilities
Delegation of Authority
Processes
(effective, usable,
consistently applied)
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Purchasing
Operational
Administrative
Planning and budgeting
Asset management
Checking, verification,
reconciliation
Finance and accounting
Security procedures
Documentation, filing,
retrieval
Decision analysis
Quality systems
Audit trails
Redundant documentation
Form Design