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Risk Hidden in Plain Sight, New Roles in the UK, Starting Your Scheduling Business

Risk Hidden in Plain Sight, New Roles in the UK, Starting Your Scheduling Business

Micah Piippo
November 25, 2024

Welcome back to Beyond Deadlines newsletter—a free perk for people looking to improve in Planning and Scheduling. Each week, we provide tactics, prompts, jobs and food for thought. We want you to succeed today, tomorrow and throughout the rest of your career.

As financial advisor Carl Richards says, “Risk is what’s left over after you think you’ve thought of everything.” That’s the real definition of risk—what’s left over after you’ve prepared for the risks you can imagine. Risk is what you don’t see.

Same As Ever by Morgan Housel

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5 Techniques for Spotting Project Risks You Might Be Missing

(If you're tired of risks catching you off guard, this is for you 👇)

1️⃣ Host a Risk-Trigger Workshop
Encourage creative thinking by exploring what could "trigger" risks.

Question assumptions at every project phase.
→ Delayed material deliveries? Loss of key personnel? Unproven methods?
Flip the script: Imagine bad weather instead of good.

2️⃣ Bring Cross-Functional Expertise to the Table
Risks often hide outside the planning room.

Invite experts from procurement, engineering, legal, and operations.
Assign a "devil’s advocate" to challenge every assumption.
Start silently: Ask individuals to identify risks before group discussions.

3️⃣ Map Risks Visually
Seeing is believing—and identifying patterns.

Use a Risk Breakdown Structure to categorize risks.
Mind-map your way from the project goal to specific vulnerabilities.
Overlay risks on the schedule to prioritize mitigation strategies.

4️⃣ Learn from Analogies and History
Why reinvent the wheel?

Review post-mortems from previous projects.
Compare industry benchmarks to spot transferable lessons.

5️⃣ Leverage Technology for Risk Prediction
Let data do the heavy lifting.

Run Monte Carlo simulations to assess schedule delays.
Consult historical risk databases for hidden challenges.
Use digital twins to model bottlenecks in the construction process.

Brainstorm Unforeseen Risk

Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.

Act as a construction planning and scheduling expert with 15 years of experience delivering large-scale capital construction projects. Facilitate a brainstorming session with your team to identify potential risks that might not have been considered in the planning phase.

Use your expertise in risk assessment from past projects, where unforeseen issues were successfully mitigated, to guide the discussion. Provide a structured format that categorizes risks into areas such as technical, logistical, environmental, financial, and regulatory, encouraging a comprehensive evaluation.

Maintain a collaborative and thought-provoking tone to inspire creative and critical thinking. Before you begin, ask me 3 questions to help improve your answer.