Only 30% of capital projects are delivered on time and only 15% on budget, according to recent reports, demonstrating the need for better risk management within and across projects.   I’m very pleased to be presenting a webinar on what can be done to increase project success, for the World Risk Day Virtual Summit on May 14th, which Active Risk is once again supporting together with the leading global risk and project management bodies.   The stakes are high and the shocking metrics show there is no time to lose. According to a 2012 Accenture report, only 30% of capital projects are delivered on time and only 15% on budget, and more than 60% of those surveyed expected the size and complexity of projects to increase.   This year’s World Risk Day challenges the myth that project success can be delivered ...  

In your organization is there a clearly articulated plan about your strategic projects which can be accessed by all who need to see it? Are risks identified and shared?   Recent months have seen increasingly useful investigation and reporting coming from the UK’s PublicAccounts Committee and the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO has also embraced the Web and social media as ways to disseminate this information to a wide audience. Reports are freely available on the Internet, and Twitter is used to announce each new publication via @NAOorguk.   The vision of the UK’s National Audit Office is “to help the nation spend more wisely”. To this end they regularly produce reports which look into all areas of public spending. Whether you agree with the Government policy which is driving the expenditure or even trust the accuracy of the data to the ...  

We continue our series on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Projects Managers with an attribute that is key to any project manager - Be Accountable.   Accountability is more than just showing up on time, delivering reports and delegating work to other team members. Truly successful organizations foster PMs that feel personally responsible for a project’s success, as in today’s economy just one under-performing project can undermine the profitability of an entire program.   How do best-in-class companies achieve accountability?   When it comes to risk, organizations need to foster a risk-aware culture where employees do not feel it’s OK to ‘walk on by’ ignoring risks and opportunities. When project risks are identified, accountability is all about making sure that someone is responsible for each and every individual risk. In addition to understanding the risk inside and out and taking responsibility for whatever ...  

Each year, the Project Management Institute (PMI) releases its 'Pulse of the Profession' report - an annual global survey of project management professionals designed to chart the major trends in project management. The report covered numerous facets of successful project management, below are three takeaways that had us nodding our head in agreement.   As you may know, Active Risk strongly believes that strategic project risk management is the key to delivering projects on time and within budget, so it’s no surprise that this report draws a number of conclusions with which we strongly agree and have touched upon ourselves.   “The best performers standardize and mature their project, program and portfolio practices over time to drive organization-wide efficiencies.”   Using standardized processes and systems leads to a competitive advantage for best-in-class companies. Every project is unique, but if a business can draw ...  

Read the latest ARM customer risk management case study. Skanska won the award for "Outstanding Contribution to the Risk Industry" for its pro-active risk management on the M25 London orbital road widening project. Read our latest case study to discover why their project was judged the best in the business and find out how Active Risk Manager underpinned the successful on-budget, on-time delivery of this time-critical project.   The Challenge: Deliver improvements to London’s orbital road infrastructure before the London 2012 Olympics or face £70m ($113m) in costs and liquidated damages   The Solution: Implement ARM Enterprise Risk Management software rather than hold risk registers in multiple spreadsheets   The Results: Project completed 8 weeks ahead of schedule and wins several risk management awards   Click here to read the full case study.