9th Project and Risk Management Conference ñ Birmingham, 14-15 March

The Office for Government Commerce (OGC) will be launching the updated version of its best practice guidance on risk at the two-day 9th Project and Risk Management Conference in the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham (14-15 March).

Management of Risk (M_o_R) provides a route map for risk management, bringing together principles, approach and processes with advice on how these might be embedded within an organisation.

During the Conference, Frances Scarff, Manager for OGCís Best Management Practice Guidance, will be looking at ëManagement of Risk: building on past experienceí explaining the way in which M_o_R has been used successfully by many different organisations.

Other speakers at the event, will be challenging perceptions and demonstrating the effectiveness of risk management in major organisations. The Conference is being organised by Project Manager Today and co-located with the Project Challenge Exhibition.

Keynote speaker, Eddie Obeng, has helped many organisations transform their project and programme management effectiveness. He is one of the UKís most thought-provoking, entertaining and inspiring speakers. Obeng will be asking ëAre you paranoid enough?í as he explores the myths of risk management.

Mike Robertson will be revealing the results of a study he undertook for the Major Projects Association that looks at the experiences of risk management in major organisations.

It will be the first opportunity for non-members of the MPA to benchmark their experiences against results that draw on some of the biggest names in the project world.

Mike, managing director of Risk Solutions observes: Whilst project risk management is a well developed discipline, there is too much focus on the process rather than the outcomes. The survey results provide a pointer to those areas where organisations can redress this balance.

Risk exists not only within projects but also from the wider environment. Andrew Wood, Director of Risk Management for Serco Group plc has been looking at ways of coping with Emergent Risks, anything from a flu pandemic, to climate change and terrorism. How can you deal with such events that lie outside normal business and risk management processes?

Mark Swabey, Managing Director of Risk Reasoning Ltd will be continuing his Campaign for ëReal Risk Managementí to show the value of risk management to project managers who want successful projects.

In total, 18 speakers are scheduled to present 15 papers over four sessions covering the two days; the second day contains three specialised sessions covering Earned Value and Risk; Leadership and Risk; and, Looking for Reality in Risk Management.

Speakers will include: Jeremy Harrison, Head of Project Risk and Value at Network Rail; Liz Goodman, a trouble-shooting project manager; Andrew Taylor, Risk Manager, British Nuclear Group; Mike Walker, Chairman of the Institute of Risk Management and Director and Head of Consulting Services, Currie and Brown; Peter Simon, Lucidus Consulting; Val Jonas, Risk Decisions; Nicol Jarvie and Patrick Kennerson, Thales UK.

Delegates booking both days of the Conference will receive free copies of two leading risk books worth 75: ëUnderstanding and managing Risk Attitudesí by David Hillson and Ruth Murray-Webster and Managing Risks for Projects and Programmesí by John Bartlett (a speaker at the conference).

The Conference is being sponsored by the APM and PMI Risk SIGs and The Projects Group plc. Delegates will also be able to attend the Project Challenge exhibition which is co-located with the Conference.

For the latest details on the conference downloaded a PDF at www.pmtoday.co.uk or call 44 (0)118 932 6665.