Tip of the Week #18 Tip Index

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"Planning for Crises in Project Management"

by Larry A. Mallak, Harold A. Kurstedt, Jr., and Gerold A. Patzak, in Project Management Journal, June 1997, pp. 14-20.

This is an interesting article about planning for crises. At minimum "Even for small projects, assign the job of developing at least a two-page risk analysis and contingency plan before the project begins. This is similar to a company appointing a manager of business interruption planning."

"In a crisis the worst decision is no decision and the second worst decision is a late one." Crisis planning lays the groundwork for timely communications and decision making. The process the authors describe consists primarily of (1) Risk Analysis and (2) Contingency Plans.

Tools described are:

Logic Charts (project flow logic with all dependencies. These charts for the basis for writing procedures when needed.
Simulations ("tabletop exercises") to let people "act out possible scenarios in advance."

A great book about practices and strategies in this area is
Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable by Steven Fink, AMACOM, 1986, 243 p.
Hardcover, 245 pages List: $19.95 -- Amazon.com Price: $17.96.
Dimensions (in inches): 9.36 x 6.36 x .96 ISBN: 0814458599

And an application case is described in
"Blowout Risks Cut with Contingency Plan" by L. William Abel of Wild Well Control Inc.,
Oil & Gas Journal, June 7, 1993, pp. 30-36

— John Schuyler, May 1997