Risk management in the new millennium

Project risk management has been recognised for some time as a formal discipline in its own right, and there is growing consensus on the elements which comprise best practice. However the project risk management field has not fully matured and there are a number of areas requiring further development. This paper presents the author’s perceptions on the directions in which project risk management might develop in the short to medium term, comprising five key areas. These are : organisational bench-marking using maturity model concepts; integration of risk management with overall project management and corporate culture; increased depth of analysis and breadth of application; inclusion of behavioural aspects in the risk process; and development of a body of evidence to justify and support use of risk management.