Risk professionals consistently promote integrating risk management into phase gate decision points—yet construction teams frequently fail to adopt a risk mindset and rarely prioritize funding. The consequences? Teams forfeit measurable gains like reduced cost and schedule variance, better contingency planning, and clearer trade-off decisions throughout the project lifecycle.

If you’ve struggled to get buy-in for comprehensive risk management, you’re not alone. But what if there’s a way to prove value first, then scale your program once leadership is convinced?

Chris Carson and Andrew Bates from Arcadis recommend treating risk as two complementary efforts: mitigating negative risks (threats) and exploiting positive risks (opportunities). Here’s the key difference: mitigating threats typically requires allocated budgets and dedicated resources, while opportunity management—identifying, prioritizing, and acting on upside risks—can often be handled by project controls staff working under Project Management direction. This minimizes incremental cost while ensuring opportunities are actively pursued.

The breakthrough strategy? Use opportunity-led risk management as your entry point. Start by identifying and capturing positive risks to demonstrate short-term, tangible value. Once the construction management team sees results, you can scale into a full risk management program with far less resistance. Arcadis has achieved great success with this approach when clients initially resist comprehensive risk processes—beginning with early systemic risk management in the Pre-Design Phase, then transitioning to project-specific risk management as design evolves.

This session will show you how to turn skeptics into believers by proving value through opportunities first, then building the comprehensive program your projects deserve.

Here’s what you’ll gain by attending this session:

• Dual-Focus Risk Framework: Learn how to balance threat mitigation (avoidance, reduction, transfer, acceptance) with opportunity exploitation (exploitation, sharing, enhancement, acceptance) aligned with AACE RP 63R-11—allowing cost-effective opportunity pursuit using existing project controls staff while minimizing additional resources and maximizing project value.
• Overcoming Adoption Barriers with Opportunity-Led Strategy: Discover how starting with low-cost opportunity identification in the Pre-Design Phase demonstrates quick wins like schedule optimizations, building stakeholder buy-in for scaling to full risk programs—addressing common challenges like funding reluctance and lack of risk mindset in construction teams, supported by AACE RP 72R-12 guidelines.
• Measurable Benefits Through Phase-Gate Integration: Understand how embedding risk management into phase-gates from Pre-Design to Post-Construction reduces cost and schedule variances, improves contingency planning per AACE RP 70R-12, and enables clearer trade-off decisions—using quantitative tools like Monte Carlo simulations to achieve outcomes such as 24% cost reductions in high-maturity projects.
• Practical Implementation with Real-World Success: Gain actionable steps including establishing tailored plans, conducting workshops, and monitoring via KPIs—illustrated through Arcadis case studies like Miami International Airport delay recovery that demonstrate how this method fosters collaboration, avoids disputes, and delivers on-time, within-budget projects.

Presentation Category: Risk Analysis / Management

Competency Level: Intermediate