RICO
Risk In Complex Operations
Risk Management Tools
Simplifying risk management
Providing risk management tools for better and simpler risk management.
Risk Education
Teaching through examples
We post examples of projects with different risk scenarios and analyse what went wrong.
Read the latest RICO post
What Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong
Managing a large-scale construction project is no small task. There are many moving parts, stakeholders with which to communicate, supplies to order, funding to obtain, permits to acquire, and safety to consider. With this understanding, it may not be a surprise to hear that time delays are quite common within construction projects. However, recent reports …
Controls to Reduce Risk & Pitfalls to Avoid
Introduction There are numerous controls to avoid and reduce the risks to your project or organization. Though the risk is not always avoidable, there are ways to alter it. Below are proven controls used to alter risk. Controls – Engineering Controls: these are controls that reduce risk using engineering methods. This can include: 1. How …
The Risk Management Cycle
Introduction: The risk management cycle is a model organizations and project managers use and is fundamental to their risk management framework. This cycle includes the steps taken to reduce risk and can be modified according to the needs of the organization or project. The risk management cycle featured in this article will focus on four …
Risk Management
It does not have to be time consuming, complicated and expensive.
But unfortunately it is most of the time… Especially in complex projects!
That is why we use risk management tools!
In risk management there is a number of tools, or methods, one can use to identify, rate and mitigate risk. These methods are a combination of simple and inexpensive ones, such as a brainstorming exercise. To the more complicated, expensive and time consuming ones, such as organisational risk governance and organisational risk communication.
Read about the risk management tools
The Risk Management Cycle
Introduction: The risk management cycle is a model organizations and project managers use and is fundamental to their risk management framework. This cycle includes the steps taken to reduce risk and can be modified according to the needs of the organization or project. The risk management cycle featured in this article will focus on four …
The Risk Management Checklist: One of Many Tools
Introduction: Every day, whether as an individual or a large organization, people are forced to deal with risks. Risks come in many different forms, but the solution to managing those risks may vary depending on the situation. Fortunately, there are tools that risk managers at all levels can use to help them simplify their processes, …
The FIRM Scorecard
Within the field of Risk Management, there are various ways of identifying risks. Depending on the way in which you wish to realize these risks, there are certain risk classification systems to choose from. One of these is the FIRM scorecard, which at some points serves the same purpose as the Business Impact Model. Both …
Risk Strategy. Safety Risk Management
This article describes how safety risk management is a key component of any safety management system and involves identifying safety hazards to your operations and assessing the risks of mitigation. To successfully identify hazards you should think laterally and be unencumbered by past ideas and experience Introduction The term “safe” Those involved in disaster management …
Does your company have a Contingency Plan?
Does your company have a Contingency Plan? This post guides you through how and why to make a CP. Click here to learn more..
Risk strategy; risk transfer, sharing and spreading
Risk management strategies Risk tranfser, sharing and spreading as the last risk management strategy. Click here to learn more..
Risk strategies: Risk likelihood Reduction and Consequence Reduction
Risk management strategies Risk likelihood and consequence reduction are two different ways to manage risk. Click here to learn more..
Risk strategies: Avoidance and Acceptance
Risk management strategies Risk Avoidance and risk Acceptance are two opposite ways to manage risk. Click here to learn more..
What is risk management strategies?
Risk management strategies. This post explains the concept risk management, and introduces the five different strategies to mitigate risk..
Vulnerability Assessment
A step-by-step guide how to deal with vulnerabilities. This tool can be of value to your organization…
Risk Assessment, step 3
Step 3 This step is a helpful tool while considering how to reduce risks. You do this best by developing security strategies..
Risk assessment, step 2
Step 2 This step helps clarify how severe (or not) the risk is, and how much priority it must be given….
Risk Assessment, step 1
How to work with the risk. Before you deal with the risk, you need to identify what hazards exist in your workplace, and how likely they are to become a risk….
Risk communication
Risk communication, a specialised branch within communication, is as important as risk governance. If you can’t communicate risk within the organisation, how do you expect to handle risk?
Risk governance
Risk governance is not as much a tool as a way of running an organisation (risk wise). Risk governance should already be a thing in every organisation and if it isn’t in yours, the read this post…
SWOT analysis
Most project managers know this tool. But it can be used to manage risk as well as the standard project management use. Read more to find out how…
Bow-Tie Diagram
Used extensively by the Maersk organisation, this tool is a powerful one if used correctly. It can be difficult to grasp but is quite logical once understood. Read more to find out…
Capacity assessment
Does your organisation have the capacity to handle unforeseen risk or even disasters? Are you preventive or reactive when it comes to risk management? Read more to find out…
The wonderful risk matrix
The risk matrix is the crème de la crème of risk management and specifically, rating risk(s). This tool is useful for all types of cases whether travel safety, chemical safety or something entirely different.
Scenario risk analysis
A scenario risk analysis is almost just a brainstorm on steroid… But it has some advantages. It focuses on ONE scenario with however many details you want in that scenario.
Brainstorming risk
A brainstorm is a well known technique for generating ideas. This fact can be exploited for benefits in the risk management sector. As even a risk manager needs ideas for how to handle risk…
Educational Examples
With educational examples, our goal is to present the reader with situations or projects where a risk became an incident. By analysing what went wrong and what should have been done, we can hopefully provide valuable knowledge to the reader.
What went wrong
In these educational examples we present a case where a specific project or part of the projects have gone wrong. We try to examine where the “point-of-no-return” is (i.e., where the risk became an incident).
What should have been done
Then, when we know where the project went wrong, we will go back in time before the “point-of-no-return” and see what could have been done differently to avoid the risk becoming an incident.
What can we learn
By doing so, we can provide valuable knowledge and “experience” to, hopefully, get your critical thinking going, so you can avoid the same incidents in your projects!
Read about our risk education content
What Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong
Managing a large-scale construction project is no small task. There are many moving parts, stakeholders with which to communicate, supplies to order, funding to obtain, permits to acquire, and safety to consider. With this understanding, it may not be a surprise to hear that time delays are quite common within construction projects. However, recent reports …
Controls to Reduce Risk & Pitfalls to Avoid
Introduction There are numerous controls to avoid and reduce the risks to your project or organization. Though the risk is not always avoidable, there are ways to alter it. Below are proven controls used to alter risk. Controls – Engineering Controls: these are controls that reduce risk using engineering methods. This can include: 1. How …
Preparedness at the Individual Level
Preparedness Starts with You! Risk is everywhere. From the moment you get in your car to go to work until the moment you swallow your last midnight snack before bed, you encounter different risks of different severities. It is also becoming increasingly obvious that both the number and severity of emergencies and disasters people face …
Relational coordination
When cooperating across sections there may arise a line of potential problems, mainly in regards to the communicative aspect. These problems arise as a result of the clashing of different expertise, authorities and cultural differences. In relation to this a professor within the field of management by the name of Jody H. Gittel has come …
Business Impact Analysis
Business Impact Analysis There will often be many active pieces within an organization. Some may be critical for the organization’s infrastructure, and others may be not as essential for the survival of the company. When conducting a business Impact Analysis (BIA) one needs to consider what is it, that brings actual value to the company. …
The risk manager
Over the last months we have on a weekly basis posted comprehensive articles covering tools and models which are useful for any risk manager to know of and be familiar with. In this article we will make a summary of these and dig into exactly what it means to be a risk manager. Introduction: What …
Risk Strategy. Safety Risk Management
This article describes how safety risk management is a key component of any safety management system and involves identifying safety hazards to your operations and assessing the risks of mitigation. To successfully identify hazards you should think laterally and be unencumbered by past ideas and experience Introduction The term “safe” Those involved in disaster management …
The Perception of Risk
Introduction Paul Slovic is an American professor of psychology at the university of Oregon. Slovic mainly studies human judgement, decision making and risk perception. He has released a large amount of research papers on the before-mentioned subjects and is considered one of the leading theorists within the risk perception field. One of Paul Slovic’s most …
Risk Management Decision
Risk strategy. Risk management decision-making This article describes how problems have been identified in processes, which are not always perfect, and how there is often anomaly and unreasonableness in deciding what is passable, what treatment options could be dominant in the three areas where problems can be identified. introduction Decision-making processes in risk management are …
Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
Introduction The fault tree analysis, also known as FTA, is a model used to understand how systems or processes fail. Furthermore, it helps with identifying the best way to reduce risk and to determine the probability of an event occurring. The FTA shares many of the same aspects as the BowTie Analysis (BTA). The model …
Sendai Framework
This article describes the disasters page, how The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction reduces disaster risks in people’s economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets, community economics and business. Introduction A project manager encounters problems, without notice. No matter what you plan, those questions will occur. Therefore, Sendai Framework methods are an important tool to use, …
Have you considered black swans in your planning?
What are black swans? Every project will run into problems and unexpected risks. No matter how much you plan, these issues will arrive. They often come in different sizing from minor to devastating. Often the minor problems can be solved by carefully laid out contingency plans and great planning. However greater risks and problems can become …
NAT and HRO; Summary
Are accidents inevitable or are they preventable? This post is a summary and a discussion of NAT and HRO. Click here to read more..
NAT and HRO; HRO
Are accidents inevitable or are they preventable? This post is about High Reliability Organization (HRO). Click here to read more..
NAT and HRO; NAT
Are accidents inevitable or are they preventable? This post is about Normal Accident Theory (NAT). Click here to read more..
Risk Society; part 3
This post paids attention to the good deal of criticism Risk Society has received throughout the time. Click here to read more…
Risk Society; part 2
This post elaborates Risk Society. Why we need to know, and how to be aware. Click here to read more…
Risk Society
This post is about risk Society. Why we need to know, and how to be aware. Click here to read more…
Risk and culture
Risk and culture This post helps you to understand why different people and social groups fear different risks…
Why we are not very good at risk assessment
Intro People, or at least most people, are not objective in their decision making. We rely on our intuition to make decisions easier for us. Emotion, is one bias we rely on to make decisions easier. Past experience, is another. Intuition is not a bad thing, it has enabled us to survive on this world …
Subjective risk perception
We promised a dive into subjective risk perception, on our LinkedIn. This is it. How does subjective risk perception affect cooperation and what are some methods to hopefully combat the negative effects of this theory.
Where is my Bulldozer?!
This case study – which is said to be true – is about a project manager, hired by a mining company to build a 3-mile road to the mining site. Upon completing stage 1, the company wants to celebrate. Not with a scissor and ribbon no, with bulldozer and ribbon…
Subscribe to our newsletter
Stay updated on Risk In Complex Operations