The prevention plan is a summary of all of the previous stages. To create one, you will look at all the high-level risks you’ve decided to act upon (the ones you will either correct or monitor).
The plan includes information about what you’ll do if the risks become problems. For this reason, it will be your primary monitoring tool.
Create a Prevention Plan Table
A prevention plan is a summary, so you need a concise format - yes, that means another table! 😉
It should include all the different aspects of your risk analysis:
The identified risks.
The levels of probability (P), severity (S), and criticality (C).
You will also outline:
Someone to be in charge of monitoring the risks.
Preventive measures (to stop them from becoming problems).
Fixes (once they become a problem).
Add Information to the Table
List the Risks
List all of the risks identified during your analysis. You should also include the criticality, probability, and severity values for each. Including these figures helps the reader understand the nature of the different risks better.
List the Preventive Action
The preventive measures column lists what you will do to reduce criticality. By this point, you will probably have already decided. Therefore, the objective here is to list these measures clearly and concisely.
For my projects, I always add the preventive measures to my prevention plan as soon as they are launched. It helps me reflect on our performance during the postmortem meetings at the end of our projects.
List and Monitor the Fixes
Monitor the Risks
The person in charge of monitoring must follow how the risk evolves during the project. They must also make sure all measures are implemented (whenever possible), and all corrective actions (fixes) are carried out if the risk becomes a problem.
It does not mean that this person must perform all of these actions, but make sure that the right person does the work.
Fix the Problems
The prevention plan will help you to save time when your risks develop into problems.
Whenever a problem appears, the time you spend (or lose?) thinking of solutions keeps your project from moving forward. To limit lost time, consider possible fixes in the prevention plan and be ready to act on them.
It’s like a fire drill at school or in the workplace: hopefully, everyone will know what to do when a real fire happens.
Combine Preventive Measures With Fixes
It’s best to combine preventive action with fixes, but it’s not always possible.
You will not be able to fix certain risks if they become problems. Instead, you’ll have to accept the consequences. It may also be impossible to implement preventive measures for some, but this is quite rare.
Monitor Your Risks
A prevention plan is like a dashboard that helps you to monitor your risks. With the information in this plan (details of the measures), you can monitor your risks efficiently.
The plan is also a highly effective reporting tool. For example, you can present it at steering committee meetings to show your risk management measures or to justify any changes you need to make to the budget.
The plan’s detailed view of the risks, preventive measures, and fixes will help you identify critical phases.
A critical phase means the part(s) of the project where a risk is more likely to occur. Being aware of this will allow you to be extra vigilant during these periods and ensure team members are ready to take action.
Last but not least: like all other deliverables, you should regularly update your prevention plan throughout the project. Remember that criticality can change (it can rise or fall over time) based on events, progress, team changes, etc. New risks can appear while others may disappear. Keep your plan up-to-date to reflect such developments.
Completing a prevention plan at the start of the project and never touching it would waste time.
Let’s Recap!
A prevention plan is a summary of your risk analysis. It shows the measures planned/taken to prevent the risks.
The person in charge of monitoring the risk will ensure that all preventive measures and fixes are implemented if necessary.
The prevention plan reports and monitors the risks and helps you identify the critical phases of your project.
The prevention plan should be regularly updated as the project develops.
You now know everything you need about risk management for a digital project. Your challenge is to present this work clearly and effectively. This will be the grand finale of this course. See you in the final chapter!
