Inspiration to Help You Keep Your 2015 Construction Risk Management Resolutions

Well, the first full business week of 2015 is nearly in-the-books.  How are you doing with those risk management resolutions of yours?  Holding steady?  Or do you need a pep talk?  If it’s the latter, my Twitter feed is here to help.

That’s because a number of my fellow AEC twerps had risk management, including successful project management, on the brain this week, and I’d like to use the Friday Forum to share some of their unique insights.

So without further ado, let’s get things started…

…with this greeting from XL Insurance Group (@XL_Insurance):

I encourage you to give the blog post linked in the tweet a read.  It makes the case that effective risk management is all about making sound decisions — and, perhaps just as importantly, avoiding bad ones:

Why do people make poor decisions when it comes to risk?  Sometimes it’s because we have a tendency to be overly optimistic. We subconsciously minimize things that are unpleasant to confront.  “It’ll be OK,” “We’ll be good” and other rationalizations can fool us into thinking that if we say it enough, those thoughts will hold true.  At other times, people make poor decisions because we’re in a rush or elect not to analyze available data.  In between unbridled optimism and pure analytics is a healthy balance that can help us make better decisions.

The author goes on to argue that risk can only be managed when it’s properly understand, which makes thorough data gathering and analysis a vital precursor to effective action.

Moving on, fellow construction attorney and Duke ’94 alum Chris Hill (@constructionlaw) chirped these musings this week:

Chris’s tweet links to his March 15, 2010 blog post with valuable tips for running a construction project smoothly.  That post, in turn, links to a white paper authored jointly by the Associated General Contractors of America (@AGCofA), the American Subcontractors Association (@ASAUpdate) and the Associated Specialty Contractors entitled Guidelines for a Successful Construction Project.  If you’ve never seen this resource before, you should take a peek.  Its 80 pages are chock-full of advice on successful project execution, covering such topics as project relationships, effective project communications, best practices for change orders, proper scheduling, your rights and responsibilities in the payment cycle, and so much more.  Mandatory reading for project executives, managers and supers.

Next up is this tweet from a ConstructionChat (@ConstructChat), a U.K. organization that facilitates relationship-building between young professionals and construction organizations:

This tweet links to a PowerPoint presentation by PricewaterhouseCoopers (@PwC_LLP) entitled Project Risks and Controls — Slaying the Dragon.  It’s such a great introduction to thinking about and addressing project risks, I thought I’d make it easy for you to view it by posting it below:

Finally, there’s this bon mot from IRMI President & CEO (and self-professed “risk and insurance geek”) Jack Gibson (@UGAJack), who makes an elegantly simple (simply elegant?) risk management case:

What about you?  How do you intend to minimize risk and maximize profits in the year ahead?  Don’t be shy — share your wisdom by leaving a comment below.  That’s what the Friday Forum is for — and the microphone is all yours.