Managing risk as product development schedules shrink

As product development cycles shrink, and as the products themselves grow m ove complex, managing risk in a product development project becomes increas ingly critical. Effective risk management follows two principles: 1) Start on it at the very beginning of the project, and 2) Go well beyond technical areas to capture anything that could impact success of the project. Thus, risk management starts at the same time the project schedule, budget and sp ecification are created and-just as these items are managed throughout the project-the identified risks receive active, cross-functional management th roughout the project. Because each risk item has its own character, each re ceives a customized risk management plan. Guidelines for generating these p lans include addressing, the toughest issues first and providing a producti ve role for failure.