Best 2024 Change Management Risk Matrix Assessment Guide and Tool to Assess Projects
Assessing Project and Change Risks for Implementation Organizational Changes
Ever wondered what sets successful projects apart from the rest? Well, it’s all about embracing the power of holistic project risk assessments that encompass change management. Understanding the intricate relationship between project management risk and change management risk can make a world of difference in ensuring your project sails smoothly.
Due to the unique nature of each project, it is crucial to perform a comprehensive change risk identification, considering both project and change management risks.
In this guide, we’ll explore the significance of taking a comprehensive approach to change and project risk assessments. We’ll dive into not just the project management aspects but also shed light on the often overlooked yet equally vital realm of change management risks. Get ready to discover the secrets behind successful project management and change initiatives!
Check out a quick summary next. Want to dig into more? Keep going, and you’ll find a more detailed discussion of risk assessment in project management and change management.
Quick Summary
What’s Effective Change Management and Project Risk Assessment?
Effective risk assessment in project management involves analyzing various data points related to the project and change management, aiming to uncover potential areas of failure in achieving project goals and objectives. To gain a comprehensive understanding, two crucial segments require thorough examination: Project Management Readiness and Change Management Readiness.
Project risk analysis must encompass both project management, focusing on the technical deployment of the project solution, and change management, addressing user adoption of the project solution. The success of the project is contingent upon the successful implementation of both these aspects, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach in resolving project and change risks.
Common Project Change Risks
As noted above, it is crucial to recognize the interconnection between project and change risks. Inadequacies in change management can lead to project risks and vice versa. These risks can have detrimental effects on a project if not addressed during the risk analysis and management activities.
Common project management risks can include:
- The absence of a project charter to give direction
- Inadequate project or change management tools
- Overlooking the need to involve the change manager in project meetings
- Insufficient testing of new solutions before release
- A lack of employee support post “Go-Live”
- The absence of a communication plan for impacted groups
- Insufficient resistance management strategies
- Lack of leadership support
- Budgeting issues
- Employee overload from excessive changes,
- Lack of a structured change management framework
- Discord between change management and project teams
- Ambiguity regarding project milestones
Risk assessment change management can come at all times and from multiple places during a change initiative. This underlines the need for a robust change risk assessment framework to identify and mitigate these risks effectively.
OCMS Portal’s Change Risk Assessment Template (Free Trial)
Looking for a modern solution for conducting project risk assessment? The OCMS Portal’s change risk assessment template helps you track risk for both the technical (project readiness) and people (change readiness) side of the equation and includes change management risk assessment questions and samples. Try it out for free now (no credit card needed).
How to Do a Project Risk Assessment for Change Initiatives (Steps)
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to conduct risk identification in project management:
Step 1: Identify What Constitutes Project Success
- Review project documentation and best practices to define project objectives and scope, outlining the necessary deliverables for success.
Step 2: Perform Project Risk Identification Assessments
- Conduct three key risk assessments at different stages using a project and change risk assessment template:
- Readiness & Assessment Stage: Evaluate change impacts, stakeholder receptiveness, and readiness.
- Planning & Deployment Stage: Develop and execute plans for solution delivery and adoption, monitoring risks closely.
- Post-Go-Live Normalization Stage: Assess project impact as the solution integrates into daily activities, addressing emerging risks promptly using established templates.
Step 3: Address & Correct Project and Change Management Risks
- Utilize a change risk assessment template with analytics reporting to pinpoint project risks accurately. Address identified issues promptly through targeted risk mitigation strategies.
Step 4: Continue Monitoring with Ongoing Risk Assessment and Mitigation
- Maintain active risk management for at least four weeks after the project go-live (or longer for larger initiatives), focusing on user adoption. Vigilantly monitor and mitigate new risks that may arise during this critical period, ensuring sustained project success.
Do you have any questions or feedback about the OCM Solution risk of change tool which allows you to conduct the Prosci risk assessment? If so, contact us.
Tips for Managing Project Risk Successfully
In effectively managing project risks and changes, early documentation of organizational risks is crucial for change practitioners and project leads. Here are key tips for managing project risks successfully:
- Understand Project Goals and Objectives:
- Gain a clear understanding of project goals and objectives to establish a benchmark for the change management risk matrix.
- Assess Risk in All Project Stages:
- Continue to track and assess risks through all stages of the project, including the planning, deployment, and normalization phases.
- Utilize Comprehensive Risk Assessment Tools:
- Employ a comprehensive project and change risk assessment template equipped with a reporting dashboard, such as the OCMS Portal Change Risk Assessment Tool, for accurate risk evaluation.
- Facilitate Communication with Stakeholders:
- Engage in discussions about risk management with project leads, change management leads, key sponsors, and other key stakeholders to ensure a shared understanding of potential risks.
- Promote Collaboration Between Teams:
- Foster collaboration between the project and change management teams, encouraging joint efforts to identify and mitigate project risks effectively.
Project Risk Identification Summary Conclusion
In conclusion, embracing a holistic approach that incorporates both project management and change management in risk assessments is the key to navigating the complexities of today’s projects. By understanding that these elements are deeply intertwined, project leaders can proactively identify potential challenges and develop robust strategies to overcome them.
Successful projects don’t just happen; they are the result of careful planning, collaboration, and adaptability. So, the next time you embark on a project journey, remember the importance of a comprehensive risk assessment that encompasses all aspects of change. By doing so, you’re not just managing risks; you’re paving the way for project triumph and ensuring a smoother, more efficient path toward organizational goals.
Detailed Deep Dive
Change Management Risks and Everything You Need to Know for Resolving Project & Change Risk
Risk assessment in project management involves looking at several data points in a project and the change management in project management to identify areas that may indicate failure to meet goals and objectives.
There are two key project risk assessment segments that need to be reviewed to give you a holistic picture.
These two segments are:
- Project Management Readiness
- Change Management Readiness
For a project risk analysis and management to be effective, you need to look at both the project risk, as well as the change risk because it takes both the project management (technical deployment of the project solution) and the change management (user adoption of the project solution) being successful for the project to be successful.
Guide to Project and Change Management Risk Assessment
This guide provides you with a complete step-by-step overview of the most common types of project and change management risks that will impact your project. It also outlines how you can perform the best change risk assessment to mitigate these risks.
Don’t miss the innovative project risk matrix and template for risk identification in project management. We’ll highlight OCMS Portal’s project assessment tool and how it helps to mitigate project risks.
Table of Contents
Keep on scrolling down this page to read each section or click any link below to go directly to that section.
- What Is a Project Change Management Risk Assessment?
- Change Risk Definition
- What Are Common Risks Faced During Project Risk Assessment & Mitigation?
- How to Do Risk Identification in Project Management (Step by Step)
- Risk and Change Management: Importance of Assessments to Identify Project Risks
- Tips on Managing Project Risks and Changes
- Software Tool for Doing Risk Management in Project Management
- Risk Assessment Using a Simple Change Management Risk Matrix
- Using Project & Change Management Risk Analysis to Drive More Successful Projects
What Is a Project Change Management Risk Assessment?
A project change management risk assessment and mitigation is the process involved in analyzing, identifying, understanding, managing, and reporting on the risks that a change management program, business initiative, or project will face throughout the lifecycle of the change implementation.
This should be done alongside a project management risk management assessment that looks at project deployment because the two go hand-in-hand when it comes to project success.
As a Senior Change Management Lead, I have delivered large-scale change programs that impacted thousands of employees and stakeholders across Citigroup, Intel, HSBC, the Federal Reserve Bank, Apple, Cisco, and other firms.
Throughout my tenure as a Change Manager, I have identified key project risk and change management risks that can derail business initiatives and change programs across any organization – if they are not effectively resolved or mitigated.
– Ogbe Airiodion (Sr. Change Management Lead)
Every project is unique. As such, it is important to conduct project risk identification that involves looking at both project risk and change management risk using a chart, matrix, or template. A project and change risk assessment template will allow you to quickly plot and identify problems that can derail your project change management deployment.
Once you use the risk analysis change management process in project management to identify problem areas, you can then develop plans to minimize these risks and keep them from becoming a reality.
Project, change, and transition risk assessment involves using a project and change management risk assessment template or change management risk matrix to conduct a set of assessments to identify whether a project has a Low, Mid, High, or Very High risk.
Project & Change Management Risk Assessment Example from OCMS Portal’s Change Risk Assessment Tool
The project management risk & success assessment tool in the OCMS Portal provides you with detailed risk identification in project management so you can pinpoint missing deliverables putting your project at risk. This is an alternative to the Prosci risk assessment and change risk assessment ServiceNow promotes.
Contact us if you have any general questions about change management, or if you have any feedback about the project risk matrix and change risk assessment template referenced above and, in the sections, below.
Do you have any feedback or questions about this change management risk mitigation and guide article? If so, contact us. We’ll be happy to help.
Project & Change Risk Definition
What are project risks and change management risks? A project and change risk is the probability that a project or program will not reach its stated objectives and goals. There is a wide range of factors that will increase the risk for a project, and so it is important to conduct an effective organisational change risk assessment (UK spelling) or organizational change risk assessment (US spelling) to understand, document, and reduce these risks.
According to a study by Gartner, 50% of change management projects are a clear failure, and only 34% are a clear success. The remainder have mixed results.
This illustrates how not properly identifying and addressing project and change risks is a major problem that keeps many organizational initiatives from achieving the desired results.
In addition to this change and project management risk definition section, the sections below provide a detailed overview of project management risk management and change management risk mitigation.
Don’t Miss: Assessing Risk in Project Management | Stakeholder Assessment Risk | Resistance to Change Risk Assessment & Management
The change management process in project management impacts project risk. Learn more about the OCMS Portal project and change management risk assessment template, a substitute for the Prosci risk assessment and ServiceNow change risk assessment.
Do you have any feedback or questions about this risk and change management guide, or on organisational change risk assessment in general? If so, contact us. We’ll be happy to hear from you.
What Are Common Risks Faced During Project Risk Assessment & Mitigation?
When doing a transition risk assessment for a project initiative, you need to look at your project holistically. This means looking at project management risk and change management risk.
What do we mean by that?
Both the project management team and change management team need to complete various deliverables to successfully complete the project as a whole. The project management team will need to deliver a project plan, timeline, meeting schedule, and more. The change management team will need to deliver a change management plan, communications plan, resistance management, and more.
Change management in project management is vital to ensuring that the project meets its objective. Risk assessment in project management should be done with an understanding that change management risks create project risks, and risks in project management create change risks. They both are intertwined.
A good way to look at project risks and change management is to look at the deliverables that each team (project management & change management) should deliver. Are these being provided? Are both teams working together? Is something falling behind?
Here are some of the common risks found during project risk identification.
Common Risks in Project Management Risk Management:
- Not having a project charter to govern the project
- Lack of adequate project management tools/apps
- Leaving the change manager out of the project management meetings
- Not confirming a new solution has been tested thoroughly before it is released
- Leaving the project and moving on when it goes live, rather than providing technical support in the weeks following “Go-Live”
Common Risks in Change Management Risk Analysis:
- Not having an adequate communication plan for impacted group communications
- No proactive and reactive resistance management plan
- Not coaching sponsors on their supportive role in the project
- Lack of a change champions network
- Not enough post-go-live help and support resources for those impacted by the change
Several negative impacts can come from the items above if not addressed in a project risk analysis and management activity. Other common project and change management risk assessment example scenarios that can impact your project include:
- High levels of resistance
- Lack of awareness or desire to support the change
- Lack of stakeholder commitment
- Lack of mid-level and group leadership support
- Budgeting risk for the entire project
- Inadequate number of project managers, SMEs, and supporting talents
- Employees are already overburdened with too much change
- Lack of a structured governance
- Discord between the change management team and the project team
- Ambiguity about project milestones
- Uncertainty
- Change management resources are not given a place at the table: in order words, project sponsors and program leads are not placing much value on change management deliverables. This then leads to reduced change management support which subsequently hurts change adoption and enablement.
- and many more…
Do you have an example of risk management and change management failures or risks that other change management practitioners can leverage? If so, send us a message. For your subject line, enter: “Additional Change Management Risk Assessment Example.”
How to Do Risk Identification in Project Management (Step by Step)
Change practitioners and project managers often ask about the best ways to identify project risk and change management risk. Following are steps that should be taken for risk assessment and mitigation.
Step 1: Identify What Needs to Happen for a Project to Be Successful
Before you can use a risk assessment tool, like OCMS Portal’s Change Risk Assessment Tool, the Prosci risk assessment, or ServiceNow change risk assessment, you need to know what equals success for the project.
How will you know if you deviate from successful project management and change management path if you don’t know what success looks like?
Review best practices for project and change management as well as the project documentation, which should identify the project objectives and scope. This will help you define the deliverables that should be in place from the project management and change management teams for a project to be successful.
Step 2: Perform Project Risk Identification Assessments
Your second step is to have a strategy for risk identification in project management.
You should plan to conduct at least three project risk assessments using a project and change risk assessment template. AGS recommends using a change management risk assessment questionnaire or template in three key stages of your project.
The recommended stages to do project risk analysis and management are:
- Readiness & Assessment Stage: When the project and project teams are being assembled and change management assessments are being completed. (Change impact assessment, stakeholder assessment, resistance management assessment, etc.)
- Planning & Deployment Stage: When the project and change management teams are creating plans and following those plans to deploy the work for solution delivery and solution adoption.
- Post-Go-Live Normalization Stage: When the project goes live in the organization and the impacted groups are first using the solution in their day-to-day activities.
It’s best to use a project and change management risk assessment template or software that is already laid out with best practices for conducting risk assessment in project management.
Best Change Management Risk Assessment Matrix & Template Example
Use a comprehensive project risk matrix template to answer “yes/no” about deliverables completion in multiple pre-populated and editable categories.
The OCMS Portal’s risk assessment and mitigation reporting dashboard will give you a full view of where project risk is and what you should do to mitigate it.
OCMS Portal with Project Risk Analysis and Management Tool – Start a Free Trial Now
Step 3: Address & Correct Project Risk and Change Management Risk
The next step for risk management in project management is to address and correct the risks found in the transition risk assessment. It’s important to use a project and change management risk assessment template with analytics reporting to help you zero in on the issues leading to project risk.
Take this information and conduct the project change management risk mitigation by correcting the issues identified.
Step 4: Continue Monitoring with Ongoing Risk Assessment and Mitigation
It’s important to continue managing the risk change management process in project management for at least four weeks after the go-live date for the project (or longer for larger initiatives). User adoption is key to project success, and the first weeks after people begin using a newly introduced project solution are when new project risks will often occur.
Do you have questions about risk management and change management? Or about an alternate change management risk assessment questionnaire ServiceNow template? Send us a message, we’ll love to hear from you.
Risk and Change Management: Importance of Assessments to Identify Project Risks
If you haven’t performed any of the project management risk management processes referenced in the section above, then we strongly recommend that you do so as part of driving an effective project and organizational change management program for your company.
Without managing project risks and changes, you are conducting your project with blinders on. This can lead to unexpected problems or complete project failure either because the product solution wasn’t delivered well and/or the change management process in project management didn’t succeed to get end-users/impacted groups to adopt the new solution.
Tips on Managing Project Risks and Changes
At the early stages of a project, it is essential for change practitioners or project leads to document the risks that the organization will face during this change. Change management in project management needs to be included in any risk assessments.
Here are some tips for successfully handling project management risk:
- Make sure you fully understand the goals and objectives for the project, so you have a benchmark for your change management risk matrix.
- Do at least three assessments for project and change management in project management risk.
- Use a comprehensive project and change risk assessment template with reporting dashboard (such as the OCMS Portal Project Risk Assessment Tool)
- Discuss the risk management in project management with the project leads, change management leads, key sponsors, and any other key stakeholders.
- Ensure both the project and change management teams are working together to mitigate project risk.
Do you have project risk and change management examples that should be included in this guide? If so, contact us.
Software Tool for Doing Risk Management in Project Management
Are you looking for a good change management risk assessment matrix? Need a change management risk assessment questionnaire that is already designed according to best practices?
Maybe you have been looking for an alternative to the Prosci risk assessment or a change risk assessment ServiceNow has?
The OCMS Portal change management platform has a Change Risk Assessment Tool that provides you with a powerful, yet simple-to-use tool for assessing and managing risk in project management.
It includes a smart scoring system and insightful analytics dashboard as well as a pre-populated project and change risk assessment template full of deliverables typically needed for a successful project.
The tool comes with everything you need for actionable risk assessment in project management and is customizable for your needs.
Start Your Free Trial of OCMS Portal Today! No credit card needed.
Do you have questions about this project risk matrix tool or the change management process in project management? If so, contact us.
Risk Assessment Using a Simple Change Management Risk Matrix
If you have a small project that doesn’t require a full risk and change management assessment, then you may prefer to use a simple change management risk assessment matrix, as illustrated below.
This change management risk matrix can also be used as a precursor to more detailed risk identification in project management, as a jumping-off point. It can also be used to indicate whether or not a full assessment of project and change management risks is needed.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation Matrix (Illustration)
The X-axis of the 4×4 Risk & Readiness chart plots how ready and receptive the groups or organization is for a change. The Y-axis plots the severity of the change impacts. This 4×4 structure is a helpful visual representation of an analysis of change management risks.
This project and change management risks review guide aims to cover everything you need to know about conducting the best levels of risk assessment and mitigation. However, if you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Using Project & Change Management Risk Analysis to Drive More Successful Projects
Risk in project management is something you should expect and monitor for. It’s difficult to ensure a project is meeting goals and objectives after it’s delivered unless you incorporate risk assessment and mitigation into your strategy.
The best change management risk assessment template and tools will include risk identification in project management and change management activities, as both are vital to project success.
You should communicate the results of your assessment for project and change management risks to the primary project sponsor and project teams and use this information to determine what actions for managing project risks and changes will be required from the project and change teams. In addition, senior leaders will be interested in learning about the findings from your change management risk analysis.
FAQ: Project and Change Risk Assessment and Mitigation
What is an assessment for change management risks?
Risk Management and change management risk assessment involves a set of assessments that are conducted to identify whether the project has a very high, high, mid, or low risk.
What are the risks in change management?
A change management risk assessment matrix is a 4x4 chart that plots the severity of the impacts of a change against employees' receptiveness to the change.
How do you mitigate risk in change management and risk in project management?
Risk identification in project management is key to mitigating that risk. You should know what the project goals and objectives are, the best ways to meet those objectives, and monitor for any deviations from that plan.
Do you have an alternative to the Prosci risk assessment or ServiceNow change risk assessment?
If you are looking for a substitute for either the change risk assessment ServiceNow has or the Prosci risk assessment, then we recommend you check out the OCMS Portal's Change Risk Assessment. (https://www.ocmsolution.com/ocms-portal/) It includes a project and change management risks template, analytics dashboard, project assessment checklist, and more!
Note: Content on OCM Solution's ocmsolution.com website is protected by copyright. Should you have any questions or comments regarding this OCM Solution page, please reach out to Ogbe Airiodion (Change Management Lead) or the OCM Solutions Team today. OCM Solution was previously known as Airiodion Global Services (AGS).
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