2013 has started like a rocket – and an all sparks flying rocket if you’re based on Australia’s eastern seaboard, with floods and fires up and down the country. Mesmerising initially, yet innately and insidiously dangerous. It’s almost impossible not to be affected by events such as these, though I sincerely hope you, your families and colleagues have remained safe throughout our wild weather onslaught.

These natural disasters would definitely qualify as ‘black swans’ – “unprecedented, high impact events”. Unfortunately, in the world of project management, there can also be black swans – events so critical that they can even affect the viability of the company. This is an interesting follow-on from our last update, which focussed on laying the foundations for increased productivity and ROI and, for anyone who knows me well, risk management is a subject very close to my heart.

I recently re-read a McKinsey study which highlights the importance of disciplined project management in avoiding these potentially catastrophic events. It offers some practical tips about how to assess risks and ensure that you avoid something going wrong.

On a potentially smaller scale, a risk that often faces project leaders is having a team that doesn’t have the right skills to do the job. With that in mind, I wanted to share some tips that Jacqui Ross, our Change and Learning Manager, has put together about how to get the most from online training.

And speaking of going online, with so much focus on moving to ‘the cloud’ (and with our new PrescienceCloud™ solutions on offer!), the question we often hear is should we consider moving to the cloud, or are there interim steps? In the article included in this update, we highlight a few things to consider, and share some details of one of the low-risk options some of our clients have chosen.

Finally, on the subject of moving, we have recently relocated our Sydney team to North Sydney, so if you’re in the area, do look us up.

I hope you find these articles of interest – I’d welcome your feedback. And if we can do anything to help you achieve the goals you have set for your business, we would love to hear from you.

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