Subtitles of the Movie

In this movie we'll step back and consider where risk analysis fits in with project management. In the scheme of things, we should not only consider how risk analysis fits, but also risk management overall. I mentioned in Part 1 of this course series how managing and controlling risk allows you to have a better control of the project. Naturally, risk analysis arms you with information and insight to make this possible. Let's take a look at this diagram on your screen. Within this triangle, you see that the knowledge areas have been grouped with other and placed in specific areas of the triangle. For instance, you have the project management plan along with scope at the center of the triangle, where everything revolves around it. We have our foundation items which are made up of schedule, budget and resources. Now look at the top of the diagram. We have communication, risk and quality. Many individuals that manage projects look at these items as extras, when in fact they're essential to controlling the items below them. I think this does a good job at conceptually seeing how the items tie together. If you think of risk as controlling the project, then risk analysis is what provides it with the information it needs to move forward and do this. In fact, I would go as far as to place a circle around this triangle and have it represent risk because risk not only considers what is happening inside the project, but also factors external and internal to the project. So risk analysis should consider that as well. As risk is analyzed, the information that's determined, such as the probably completion date of the project, is fed back into the processes that are impacted by that information so that risk analysis is actually a dynamic occurrence. I won't make the image more cumbersome than it needs to be, but you can draw arrows between risk and considering it here as risk analysis and draw a line from risk connecting back to the various items that you see. And don't forget that we need a lot of this information fed back into risk analysis processes in order to connect risk analysis in the first place. Again, think of it as a very dynamic relationship. A few parting thoughts in summary: risk analysis helps to control the project outcomes. Risk analysis considers internal and external factors and I do mean risk analysis as opposed to just risk management. All of this clearly applies to risk management as well. And the relationship between risk and other domains is very dynamic. We have information received and information distributed, including results of analysis. And that wraps up this broad look at how project management and risk analysis fits in, or I should say work together. And that brings this movie to a close.