SharePoint 2010 for Project Management, 2nd Edition

Tracking Risks

In a project environment, risks are uncertain events that might negatively affect the outcome of the project. Managing risks in any project environment entails:

Risk identification

Identifying risks based on the nature of the project, how the project is currently planned, and other risk factors outside of the project scope. For example, if your project involves using newly released software, you might want to consider the risk of the software not properly integrating with your existing systems.

Risk assessment

After a list of risks has been compiled, evaluate the likelihood or probability of each risk actually happening, and then evaluate its potential impact. Probability and impact can be measured in many ways, so it is important for the project team to set a standard for quantifying them.

Risk prioritization

Based on the risk assessment, you will then prioritize for which risks you will define a risk response. Practically speaking, you will not have enough resources to address every risk you have identified—you will need to define your risk tolerance. For example, you may determine that you will only define risk response strategies for risks having at least 60% probability and a project impact of medium or higher.

Risk response

When specifying risk responses, you must define the action items required to mitigate the risk, as well as which individuals will be responsible either for addressing the risk, eradicating the risk, minimizing its likelihood of occurring, or minimizing ...