Project managers' activities in risk management

In this study, we examine what actions project managers actually take to manage risks in global delivery projects. It is concluded that formal risk management activities form a premise that project managers use to adjust risk management for their own project management style and for the project at hand. However, the formal procedures only cover a small part of all the work that the project managers actually do to identify, analyze and prevent risks. In addition, project managers' own risk management approach and informal risk management actions affect how the risks are really managed. By analyzing two main dimensions of risk management - proactiveness and formality - we develop a fourfold typology of risk management approaches in projects. We argue that to fit the risk management practices and new software tools better to project managers' everyday work, we need to look at the other end of the line: project managers' current activities in practice, their preferences and their needs in risk management. If project managers and site personnel feel that the risk management practices are not usable in turbulent project environments, those procedures and tools will not be taken into active use.