Risk management in Agile software development projects
In Agile risks are identified continuously during sprint planning, demos, retrospectives, and daily stand-ups.
Tip #8
Brainstorm risks
Don't evaluate ideas as they come up. No idea is stupid. Think 'What are the risks related to the project / task / category?'
Start with solo brainstorming, where each participant silently writes down all of their ideas. This way everyone gets heard.
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- Identify risks continuously
- Practise active listening
- Identify team dysfunctions
- Differentiate between a Risk and an Issue
- Create a safe team environment
- Involve stakeholders when identifying risks
- Use risk categories to identify more risks
- Brainstorm risks
- Conduct a pre-mortem to identify more risks
- Set up expert interviews
- Set up an anonymous system for reporting risks
- Identify risk triggers
- Prioritise risks
- Assign risk owners
- Evaluate and prioritize risks
- Control risks
- Monitor and review risks
- Plan response strategies
- Consider residual and secondary risks
- Assess risk interactions
- Learn from other teams
- Identify assumptions
- Check historical records
- Determine whether you need more formal risk management
- Check if your team identified Safety or Health risks
- Define your risk appetite
- Use the cause-risk-effect format to name risks
- Create a Risk Burndown Chart
- Make a Risk-adjusted Backlog
- Create a Risk Board
- Continuously improve
