It may come as a shock to some, but most Project Managers do not start out on a project with SR&ED in mind. There is quite enough work in getting a new project “up and running” – stakeholders to meet with, budgetary concerns, perhaps a project charter, building that initial work breakdown structure. It’s a lot of work. However, there are specific circumstances under which the possibility for SR&ED should be factored into the project management process, and good reasons why a seasoned Project Manager should use the SR&ED program as an advanced technique for risk mitigation.
Normally, the Project Manager will assemble the team of subject matter experts and develop a plan with them for the activities necessary to get the work done, with a minimum of risk. Managing risk is a large part of the PM’s job – financial risk, project or schedule risk, technical risk, business risk, even risks to health and human safety. (As we have seen recently, not all risks are easily reducible to dollars and cents.) But among all of the risks to be managed, there are risks for which the SR&ED program is particularly useful – technical risk, and the associated financial risks imposed by a technical delay or failure.
From a SR&ED perspective, “technical risk” should be taken to mean “the possibility that known and planned approaches to solving a perceived set of technology challenges in the project might not yield the desired solution, whether in terms of capabilities or desired performance, quality or cost.”
To be continued...
Bruce Madole