I was talking to my good friend Mike Clayton today talking about holidays and suddenly said; “hold it, where’s my whistle?” Of course, Mike could not answer, it was my whistle?

Why do I need a whistle? Mike and I were talking about management of risks and I suddenly realised that my risk analysis for our forthcoming holiday was suspect! You see, my wife Sue and I are going walking along the coastal path from Penzance around past Lands End, Porthcurno and back to Penzance. The bags are (almost) packed and the discussion with Mike reminded me that we did not have a whistle….just in case we get lost, fall or befall some ‘other problem.’

There are many instances where “where’s my whistle questions” would have been very useful. Why? I suggested to Mike that companies do not appear to be as systematic as they ought to be in identifying and managing risks in projects.

During project management training courses we have had people giving real examples of risks that have failed to be identified. The result, huge amounts of time and hard cash to rectify the risk once it has struck or in a few cases the project languishing and ultimately dying.

So, where is your whistle? Have you got a systematic company project risk process? Do you really identify all of the risks in your projects and if so, are they being effectively managed?

I thought I had been very thorough with my risk analysis. No formal project management training course for me! But I was wrong.

I’m away walking along the coastal path from Wednesday. I did my risk analysis and realised it could be better. What about yours?

You can follow my progress on Twitter @ronrosenhead (if the phone signal permits!)