Project Management Office RAIDs - a simple guide

PMO and Project RAIDs – a simple guide
Author: PM Majik
Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. www.pmmajik.com

Contents
1.0 Purpose of this presentation
2.0 What does RAIDs mean
3.0 Risks
4.0 Assumptions
5.0 Issues
6.0 Dependencies
7.0 Summary
8.0 PMO resources

1.0 Purpose of this presentation
The purpose of this presentation is to provide a clear definition of what is meant by PMO
and / or project RAIDs.
The presentation contains links to relevant articles on the PM Majik website. If you are
looking for particular information, please visit http://www.pmmajik.com and use the
search function found at the top right of all page.

2.0 What does RAIDs mean?
RAIDs is an acronym often used in project management and stands for the
following:
• R = Risks
• A = Assumptions
• I = Issues
• D = Dependencies
So it is a method used to collectively reference risks, assumptions, issues and
dependencies. Sometimes people may use RAI or R&I when referring to subsets.
However, this is not common.

3.0 Risks
Definition
A risk is an event that has the potential to impact one or more aspects of a
project.
While a risk normally will have a negative impact, it some instances it can have
a positive impact.
It is important to recognise that a risk has not happened, it may only have been
identified as having the possibility of impacting the project. It is possible to
mitigate against a risk impacting a project.
Further Resources
http://www.pmmajik.com/project-risk-management/

4.0 Assumptions
Definition
When planning a project, it is unlikely all information will be available.
Therefore, to create a plan, the project will have to make assumptions.
An assumption states the logic that is being used. For example, if a project is
developing a new product, one of the assumptions may be “expect to sell
10,000 units in year 1”. It is not known if 10,000 units will be sold, this should
be an informed decision based on quantitative and qualitative estimates.
In this example it is important to know where the cost of developing the new
product becomes uneconomical i.e. 5,000 units. For this reason, it is important
to prove or disprove assumptions at the earliest point possible.
Further Resources
http://www.pmmajik.com/pmo-assumptions/

5.0 Issues
Definition
Issues are closely linked to risks.
An issue is an event that has impacted a project. It is not possible to mitigate
as the issue has happened. Therefore, action has to be taken to address the
direct impact of the issue.
For example, the assumption may be the new product needs to sell 10,000
units in year 1, there will be an associated risk that if the product does not sell
10,000 it will be uneconomical. The issue would be that the product has not, it
is known, it will not sell 10,000 units.
Further Resources
http://www.pmmajik.com/pmo-risks-issues/

6.0 Dependencies
Definition
Sometimes a task in a project will depend on another task being completed.
These tasks may be internal (within the project) or external (outside of the
project).
If the task that the project is dependent on in not completed in the required time
scale, this will impact the project. Therefore, it is important that dependencies
are identified, mapped, clearly understood and tracked.
External dependencies represent the biggest risk as there is not direct control.
Further Resources
http://www.pmmajik.com/project-management-tools-dependency-management/

7.0 Summary
•RAIDs is an acronym for Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies
•Assumptions are made about a project and must be proved / disproved quickly
•Risks are threats to a project
•Issues are where a Risk has happened and impacted a project
•Dependencies exist where a task is reliant on something else being completed
Further resources are available on the www.pmmajik.com website including:
http://www.pmmajik.com/project-risk-issue-and-assumption-management/

8.0 PMO resources
If you want more information, visit www.pmmajik.com where you will find lots of project
and PMO resources including the FREE guide, 7 Steps to Set-Up a PMO.
Visit http://www.pmmajik.com/set-pmo/
PM Majik Website
On the PM Majik website you will find over 100 articles that contain practical and
pragmatic tips and insights for designing, mobilising and managing a PMO. New
articles are added weekly. Topic requests are encouraged from the community.

Project Management Office RAIDs - a simple guide

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Project Management Office RAIDs - a simple guide