Three Reasons to Dump your Risk Spreadsheet
Spreadsheets have been an integral part of the computing landscape for over forty years. Although first devised to replace paper-based accounting worksheets, they have evolved into generalized data storage tools that organizations use for a wide variety of functions.
The use of spreadsheets to store risk data is widespread, and it may be that Excel is the most popular risk management tool in the world. However, here are three reasons why you should consider using a specialized risk management tool instead:
Integrity
The spreadsheet's famed ease-of-use means that it is also very simple to corrupt the data they contain. This could be done deliberately or accidentally. Compounding this problem, security is hard to implement at a granular level. If someone has the power to enter a new risk, they can usually also overwrite existing risks or change the risk model. Tracking these changes for audit is also tricky. While modern spreadsheets store changes, you typically need to compare versions manually to understand what happened. Overall, it is hard to maintain data integrity in a spreadsheet.
Flexibility
Setting up a risk spreadsheet is fiddly, as you have to embed the risk model in a series of cell formulas. Creating a matrix display is even more laborious, with colors and risk levels hard-coded into the sheet. If there is a change to the model, you need to replace all of those formulas and also re-work the matrix display. Even worse, you must replicate these changes on every active risk spreadsheet in the organization. Spreadsheets might be easy to use, but they are challenging to change compared to a specialized tool.
Visibility
Although sending around a spreadsheet link is easy, this does not make the risk register very visible. Those who want to access the sheet need to search through their inbox, find the relevant link, and then open it. Having the risk register out of sight also makes it out of mind, which is not ideal if you want risk management to be integral to your project governance. It is much better to have a specialized tool that integrates with components of your existing project management software.
Risk Register by ProjectBalm is a proven and cost-effective tool to improve project risk integrity, flexibility, and visibility.