The back alley's bill so far: 39 weeks · See the bill
The right way
Ground, weather, steel. Then Sam, the firm's information manager, adds four: old versions on site, sensitive drawings getting out, records lost at handover, and the new system nobody knows.
Sam: Can I add a few?
Each warning sign gets an owner and an action, on the project's risk register with everything else. Old copies come down when a new one goes up.
The old-version action works. The van's windscreen is clear.
Now there is: The warning signs on the project's risk register (information risks), owned and actioned.
Information risks are project risks. A wrong version on site or a drawing in the wrong hands costs as much as bad ground. Putting them on the same register, with owners, means somebody is watching them.
So far the information has travelled from Client Town to the bid room, and is heading for the Site Office. Every hop is a chance for it to go wrong: an old version on site, a sensitive drawing in the wrong inbox, records lost at handover. The warning signs put those on the same risk register as the ground and the weather, each with an owner who is watching.
A note for the information manager: An information risk owned by "IT" is usually owned by nobody, so put a person's name next to it.
| ISO 19650 says | Means | In the town |
|---|---|---|
| Risk register | The record of risks to the job and how they'll be managed, which includes the risks to delivering information | The project's risk register, with the warning signs added |
| Information delivery risks | Things that could stop the right information arriving on time and in good order | Old versions on site, records lost at handover, a system nobody knows |
| Security-minded approach | Assessing and managing the risk of sensitive information getting into the wrong hands | The sensitive drawing that mustn't reach the wrong inbox |
Based on the ISO 19650 series: the ideas come from the standard; the plain-English wording, examples and advice are InfoTown's. ISO 19650 and its UK National Annex are © ISO and BSI. You'll hear the same language across the industry. Read more for free in the Information Management Initiative (IMI) Framework guidance from BSI and nima. For the full requirements, use the standard itself.