Now that we've covered the key tasks of risk management, we need to understand that there are different types of risks, which have different impacts and therefore need to be treated differently. The following list covers pretty much every risk you can think of; fortunately, they don't always apply. For example, if you have been working with the same team in the same office for many years—the team environment risks won't apply. But it's good to be aware of all of the types of risks as it helps to understand all the things that can go wrong. It might seem a bit overwhelming to consider things from such a negative point of view, but that's what risk management is about. It is trying to work out what all the problems are, so that you can avoid them or manage them effectively. A lack of risk management is what leads to the high failure rates in projects.

It's important to understand that risks aren't just confined to the project, they also apply to the business, the suppliers, the...