Tag Archives: assumptions
Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective
Risk-based Management in the World of Threats and Opportunities: A Project Controls Perspective Continue reading
Diversity Risk in the Canadian Workplace
If we look in the past, multiculturalism has a long and wide history in Canada. It was then adopted by the government during the 1970s and 1980s (Kobayashi, 1993) and (Duncan & Duncan, 1993).
From that time onwards, various religious and cultural influences flourished in our society; from the family to the workplace and into the main building blocks of Canadian politics. They consist of people from a multitude of racial, religious, and cultural background.
Multiculturalism was an open invitation to “cultural pluralism”, a state where smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities. It means that the values and practices of a distinct cultural group are accepted by the wider culture provided they do not violate any governing laws and values.
Note that “cultural pluralism” is often confused with “multiculturalism”.
Yes, the attributes are very similar except for one evident distinction-“multiculturalism lacks the requirement for a dominant culture (Wikipedia, 2013.Cultural Pluralism).
In the midst of these diversities lie the risks and questions that we all have to answer and manage every day. Continue reading
Diversity Risk Case 2 : Puro Mali
Whether a person is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, the janitor or cleaner under contract, or a jobless person on the street, I am sure he wants some respect.
The challenges brought about by cultural differences like nationality, region, education, language, family values, political and professional affiliation, exposures, training, expectations, communication styles, philosophies, roles, positions, responsibility, unspoken languages, and many other potential differences produce the common office interactions and relationships we are seeing today in the workplace.
It is very interesting how new Canadians (newcomers to Canada) cope at work compared to their Canadian-trained counterparts in various settings.
In that aspect, communication being a two-way street, we can conclude that it will affect Canadian trained professionals to the same extent. The degree of understanding can improve only if one takes enough time to look through each other’s lenses. Seeing another person’s perspective with an open mind will influence the success and failures of any endeavor. Continue reading
Planning, Scheduling, and Safety
There are 150,000 collisions, 350 traffic deaths, and 20,000 injuries every year in Alberta, Canada (AMA, 2011).
You might be living somewhere in another place or country and you have different numbers. Your statistics might be worse or better.
The thing is, behind this statistics are faces of families and friends, the communities, and workplaces. They are all negatively affected and there is an urgent need to understand and do something.
If one thinks about it long enough, he will realize that the solution to this harmful and deadly consequence is risk-based management. Continue reading
Black Swans
Black swan events are so fascinating that they are a common source of discussion in many risk management forums. The variety of perspectives coming from all directions never ceases to amaze.
To a risk manager, ‘black swan’ phenomena are highly unlikely events that have massive impacts on a business or society on the rare occasions they occur. It means that the event is unexpected, but is of huge consequence (Ferguson, 2014). There is no scientific way at present to predict black swan events reasonably and acceptably.
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Risk Relativity
A person’s perspective depends on which side of the fence they are sitting on. With that in mind, a risk can be a threat or an opportunity. Your business sees a threat and your competitor sees an opportunity. It is as simple as that.
Each individual player within the risk universe will see things a bit differently compared to the next person, with some people interpreting things in exactly the opposite fashion. In each case, the person can see only one attribute.
The simplistic objective point of view is that risk is either a threat or an opportunity, depending on the observer’s orientation to the goal. Continue reading
Effects of Constraints to Critical Path
Identifying and validating project constraints affecting the schedule is an important part of monitoring and control. Constraints for the most part are project assumptions.
Treat them with caution and respect.
“Once started, the project is actually operating under three big traditional major constraints* of cost, time, and scope (*note that PMBOK had recently came up with six constraints).
Constraints imposed on activities are multiple limitations that will most likely further make it challenging and difficult to manage time.”
The critical path ultimately dictates the duration of the project. For this reason, a planning and scheduling person has to understand how constraints affect the schedule.
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Your World, Our Risk Universe 