Project Risk Assessment and Decision Support Tools

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Leadership (DECISION MAKING Page 2)



73–If project is being fast tracked, are the extra cost/ resources use sustainable over a long period of time? (No = blue)
74-Do investors have a major say in decisions made about the project? (Yes = blue)
75–Is staffing level appropriate to perform the scheduled workload? (Yes = green)
76–Has/ is progress on meeting the benchmarks been met? Is progress fast enough?  Is it sustainable (Yes = good)
77–Do SM/ PM/ Team/ contractors NOT want to make decisions?  (NOT = bad)
78–Does decision making occur in slow-moving, fragmented silos? (Yes = bad)
79–Is the pace of operations, personnel quality/ manning/ communications, maintenance, equipment and training excessive? Are any of these issues lagging? Is team personal fitness/ family life/ free time suffering as a result? (Yes = bad)
80–Does the number of required weekly project team hours worked (e.g., consistently working 12 or more hours per day) significantly exceed the standard/ normal work hours of non-project team members? (Yes = bad)
81-Does SM/ PM give themselves sufficient time to review problems? (No = bad)
82-Do the explanations “add up” (make logical sense)? (No = bad)
83-Do issue log entries prompt action items? (No = bad)
84-Does SM have the confidence that the project will be successful? (Yes = good)
85-Does SM/ PM ask the right questions? Solving the right problems? (Yes = good)
86-Is there too much incentive to say ‘no’ to taking risks/ making decisions? (Yes = bad)
87-Are workers/ managers salaries/ construction costs excessive, when comparing them for similar work/ regionally? (Yes = blue)
88-Does SM/ PM explain to all concerned what’s driving their decisions?  (Yes = good)
89-At its current pace, will the project be completed on time? (Yes = good)
90–Is this project executed well enough to support the firm’s strategic goals and vision? (No = bad)
91-Do proposed solutions to challenges/ issues address the root problem? (No = bad)
92–Does systemic fraud exist on this project? With this/ multiple contractors? (Yes = bad)
93-Does/ did SM/PM act consistently and aggressively enough to consistently root-out the problems and sustain and improve performance?  (No = bad)
94–Is project on track to meet its intended goals by its assigned deadline and budget? (No = blue – but depending on phase)
95–Is there a wide variance between the project’s current duration/ cost and its original duration/ cost? (Yes = blue)
96–Has project been given sufficient time to succeed? (No = blue)
97-Is SM/ PM working on a Plan-B option, if project fails to achieve its objectives? (No = blue)
98- Is SM/ PM measuring what they really want to know? (No = bad)
99- Does the number of units due/ promised versus the actually delivered closely/ nearly/ almost match? (No = blue)
100-Does the pace of delivery meet or exceed the project’s schedule? (No = bad)
101-Can/ has project meet/ met all reliability, safety, technical and operational requirements? (No = bad)
102-Has PM/ SM decided future options – should the project not work? Do options include:
            *Proceeding to the next phase?
            *Trying another system or idea already approved or in-process?
            *Try a system/ idea not previously considered?
            *Deciding that nothing currently works and starting over?
103–Is a change of top leadership needed/ justified at this time? (Yes = blue)
104–Are the right number of workers actively engaged (beware of too many/ too few) in completing the project? (No = bad)
 
105–Has the cost of the project significantly escalated by orders of magnitude over its originally stated budget? (Yes = red)
106–Is the scope of the project significantly larger than needed? (Yes = blue)
107–Can project continue to operate at the current pace, given relevant events? (Yes = good)
108–Is/ has PM/ SM been willing to use data and override established algorithms? (Yes = blue)
109–Is the project’s resource “burn rate” sustainable over the long-term? (No = bad)
110–Does/ has SM/ PM initiate/d timely action to promote the project? (Yes = good)
111–Has SM/ PM created benchmarks and best practices to assure the project’s success? (Yes = good)
112–Does SM/ PM review the project’s key performance indicators to:
            *Assess the project’s status? (Yes = good)
            *Determine progress (Yes = good)
            *Allocate/ reallocate resources (Yes = good)
113–Have expert monitoring/ advice caused improvements in project performance? (Yes = good)
114–Has SM/ PM provided the resources, effort and expertise to solve the project’s most pressing/ core problems? (Yes = good)
115–Does the safety system provide a reliable safety picture? (Yes = good)
116–(If a problem has surfaced) can QA/ PM determine the exact cause?  (Yes = good)
117–Is SM/ PM effectively executing the plan? (Yes = good)
118–(After PM has replanned) Is the new plan up and running effectively? (Yes = good)
119-Is/ was/ will this technology/ project retrofitted to operate in this intended environment? (Yes = blue)
120–as verification been made to ensure that all overtime was honestly earned and appropriate? (No = bad)
            Has an audit been performed of:

  1. The recipient’s regular salary and the number of hours associated with this salary.
  2. The overtime amount recipient was paid (on top of the regular salary) and the number of hours associated with this overtime salary.
  3. Assuming a 40-hour workweek and 52 weeks and 2080 hours (40×52)
  4. Divide A by C to get the hourly rate at straight time pay
  5. Calculate D times the overtime hourly pay rate to get the overtime pay
  6. Add the hours from A and B to determine recipient’s total work hours.
  7. Divide F by 365 days (#days in a year) to determine the recipient’s:

             *Average daily hours, minutes worked
*The number of days per week worked
*Do this to cover a period of an entire year

  1. Ask (after performing the A through E pay analysis) if the recipient is working more hours or days than humanly possible (fraud indicator) over any selected period of time?
  2. Knows whether each team/ work group is doing anything close to the necessary amount of work, today?

121–Is the end product currently operating at its rated capacity? (No = bad)
122–Is this project properly placed within the organization? (No = bad)
123–Are the project’s current monitoring and surveillance systems sufficiently advanced enough to avoid unwanted tragedies? (No = bad)
124–Are decision makers ready to pull the plug, because? (Yes = good)
            *No/ insufficient progress over a sustained amount of time
            *Too much money has been spent
            *Too many promises made and now unmet (false promises)
            *Lofty ambitions no longer match the current reality
            *Project is orphaned (has no sponsor or leadership)
125-Has the project solved the problem it was given and the problem the firm needed to solve?  (No = bad)
126–Does/ has SM/ PM spend too much time analyzing the data and not enough time making decisions? (Yes = bad)
127–Is this project’s findings receiving the same type of scrutiny that is applied in more proven technologies? (Yes = good)
128–Does SM demand PM to provide evidence and numbers to back up gut feelings/ hunches? Is there any attempt to evaluate project details and performance numbers together? (No = bad)
129–Is effective testing used to guide decision making? (Yes = good)
130–Can this project be successfully implemented?  (No = bad: Consider pausing and reevaluate options)
131–Is the testing producing mixed results? (Yes = blue)
132–Is PM/QA moving as quickly and carefully as possible? (Yes = good)
133–Can PM/SM get facts/ test results quickly and clearly? Knows which must be acted upon quickly?  (Yes = good)
134–Is/ has PM collecting enough efficiency and safety data? (Yes = good)
135–Does this project make long-term sense for the firm (company)?
136–Is SM/ PM/ PT comfortable making decisions in an environment of uncertainty? (No = blue)
137–Is SM/ PM getting:
            *Most relevant information? (Yes = good)
            *Latest information? (Yes = good)
            *Outdated data (Yes = bad)
            *Sketchy and poorly monitored data
            *Tainted facts (Yes = bad)
            *Half-baked analysis (Yes = bad)
            *Cross-referencing data to verify that information from various reports sources is not in conflict? (Yes = good)
138–Is constant coordination occurring between the project’s organizations? (Yes = good)
139–Have decision/ action thresholds been established for this project? (Yes = good)
140-Does PM identify trends early and implement strict mitigation efforts, in a timely manner, before the threshold is reached? (Yes = good)
141–Does SM/PM ever ask ‘are we there yet’? (Yes = good)
142–Is the project plan working as advertised, despite promises, money/ other resources that were invested? (Yes = good)
143–Is the PM’s/ SM’S decision making effective in both the short-term and long-term? (Yes = good)
144–Does SM/ PM know/ can explain when the proof point will be reached when people will see that the plan/ transition plan is working? (Yes = good)