Effective Opportunity Management for Projects: Exploiting Positive Risk

by David Hillson

With step-by-step guidelines, this bestselling reference discusses the management of project opportunities by expanding the traditional risk management process to address opportunities alongside threats. It offers valuable tools and techniques that expose and capture opportunities, minimize threats, and deal with all types of uncertainty in your business and projects. Written by an experienced consultant and risk management specialist, this guide emphasizes that risk processes must cover both opportunities and threats if they are to assist in accomplishing project objectives and maximizing business benefits.

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective Opportunity Management for Projects, by David Hillson ("The risk Doctor") was a good primer on risk management in a project setting. David Hillson is well versed in the subject, and offers a step by step analysis on Risk Management based on the PMBOK standard for the Risk management project phase. He goes through identifying risks, quantitative and qualitative assessment, risk planning and the monitoring and controlling phases of risk management. Each chapter is detailed with proper processes, step by step, with more detail than the simple input - tools and techniques - output model that the PMBOK offers. Even so, he follows PMBOk standard closely, and so the book offers a complimentary approach to the standard guide.

He also goes into detail about project threats and opportunities, breaking risk down not just into negatives, but into positives as well. Hillson advocates for considering both threat and opportunity in the risk management phase, and one can see why. Having plans in place to respond to threats is usual for most organizations, but often times opportunities are overlooked or ignored, and organizations are ill-prepared when they arise during projects, and unable to reap the benefits. This adds an extra dimension to risk management for project teams to consider, as various tasks, internal and external factors and so on, can shave time, cost and refine scope to ensure a more successful project.

Effective Opportunity Management was a great primer on Risk Management, followed the PMBOK format closely, and offered insight into one of the more complex project phases. Easily recommendable as a course book (as I used it) or for those searching for a fresh viewpoint on both threats and opportunities in project management.