While Agile and Scrum are particularly targeted at lessening Risk (Risk Mitigation). This does not mean that Risk to any Project can be neglected. The Risk Management process explained has much in common with the majority of other Risk Management Frameworks. If your Company has adopted a specific Framework, it is advised that you line up the Scrum Risk Management Framework to that of your Organisation. If you do not have an official Risk Management Framework in place, this is a simple process that has much in typical with ISO 31000, although there is some difference in the grouping of the primary activities, but not their content.

This is a description of the Fourth sub-process of five – namely Risk Mitigation.

The Scrum Risk Management Process

Risk Management is an iterative process, which makes it simple to integrate into Scrum. There are 5 significant Risk Management activities:
-‘ Identify’.
-‘ Assess’.
-‘ Prioritise’.
-‘ Mitigate’.
-‘ Communicate’.

Risk Mitigation – the Why and How.

Applying Risk Management is a bit like being a pessimist; you presume that absolutely nothing will Work to Plan, and that you require to believe in advance what should happen to prevent the Risk ending up being an issue. Earlier in the Risk process you recognized, Assessed and prioritized Risks. Now you must decide on what Mitigation is most suitable for each Risk. A really conservative and Risk-averse Company will budget plan for the minimum Risk. A more entrepreneurial and ingenious Company will be prepared to take more Risk.

The Risk Mitigation Categories and their Impact.

Acceptance or Assuming of Risk.

Not all Risks can be Mitigated. The insurance coverage term “Acts of God” uses here, where an earthquake, tornado or other natural catastrophe can not really be Mitigated to any fantastic level. Not all Risks require to be Mitigated; if the Risk has a low possibility and impact, rather than costs time and money designing Plans to cope with its prospective occurrence. It can be concurred that, if it does emerge, the effect will be accepted and taken in by the Project.

Avoidance.

Risk avoidance as a strategy removes the Risk from the picture by preventing it completely. This can be done by finding an alternative action that changes the Risky action or having a foolproof Plan that will kick in if the Risk takes place. Risk avoidance usually requires a high financial expense. Companies can not always manage both Risk avoidance and new Product Development, so there will need to be some compromise.

Constraint or Control.

Limitation of Risk is a compromise in between avoidance and acceptance; some actions are taken that will control the Risk, needs to it take place. With Risk restriction, the Risk is anticipated to happen and there will be some effect. Rather than having a primary and back-up website, there would just be one website with a daily backup which is kept off-site. In the case of failure the restore will take some time, which will affect the Agile Project for a few hours.

Risk Transfer.

The placement of non-core Work with an outsourcing service company is a type of Risk transfer. While Risk transfer is a good technique to reduce Complexity, it also eliminates the ability to control what has actually been outsourced.

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Who Should be Involved in Defining Risk Mitigation’s.

Where Risks are external to the Agile Project, or need a monetary investment, it will be necessary to involve subject matter specialists such as the design Team and the finance department, even to CFO level if needed. While the Plan would be Communicated to them according to the Risk Management process. This engages them in the Mitigation activity and makes them part of the solution.

Preparing the Risk Mitigation Plan.

Once Mitigations for all the recognized Risks have actually been talked about and agreed, they should be Documented and a Mitigation Plan should be prepared. Ownership of the Risk and activities and process that will be invoked in the case of a Risk occurring are consisted of in the Plan.

Monitoring the Risk Status.

Risk Management is not static: a Risk can end up being more extreme or decrease throughout the Project, and this is kept an eye on throughout the Agile Project. A periodic Risk Meeting need to be held to reassess the Risks and upgrade their ratings as the Project progresses. The natural time to do this is throughout the Sprint Review Meetings (this is attended by all of the Development Team, Scrum Master and the Product Owner) and/or the Retrospectives. However a separate Meeting can also be held where needed. The charm of Agile and Scrum, is that the approach is Risk-based. This both reduces the general Project Risk and makes Risk Management simpler.

How Scrum Facilitates Risk Mitigation.

Agile Development is rapid and short-term, thus minimising the opportunities of a Risk taking place. Scrum enhances this by taking on the highest priority Tasks in the Product Backlog first. High priority products in the Product Backlog are Prioritised by the Product Owner. They are the greatest Risk parts, either since there is uncertainty about the Requirement or they are critical to the successful Product design. Finishing high-Risk Work early on in the Project improves the opportunities of Project success.

The truth that the Project is finished as soon as possible means that Risks that are either low in impact or low in probability can be accepted, instead of prevented or limited, since the possibilities are good that the Project will complete prior to those Risks happen. Scrum Risk Management is for that reason simpler and less difficult than Traditional Project Management, although it utilizes the very same techniques.