Plan Risk Responses
Plan Risk Responses is the process of developing options, selecting strategies, and agreeing on actions to address overall project risk exposure and to treat individual project risks.
Explanation
Plan Risk Responses takes prioritized risks from the risk register and determines the most appropriate response strategy for each. For threats, the strategies are avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, and escalate. For opportunities, the strategies are exploit, enhance, share, accept, and escalate.
Effective risk responses must be appropriate to the severity of the risk, cost-effective relative to the risk exposure, realistic within the project context, agreed upon by relevant stakeholders, owned by a responsible person (risk owner), and timely. The response should reduce the overall threat exposure or increase the opportunity exposure.
The process also addresses overall project risk through strategies such as restructuring the project, adjusting scope or schedule, or communicating the overall risk position to stakeholders. Outputs include updates to the risk register (with response strategies, owners, triggers, contingency and fallback plans), updates to the project management plan, and change requests when responses require changes to baselines.
Key Points
- •Selects strategies for threats (avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, escalate) and opportunities (exploit, enhance, share, accept, escalate)
- •Each risk response must have an assigned risk owner
- •Responses must be cost-effective, timely, and agreed upon by stakeholders
- •May generate change requests when responses affect baselines
Exam Tip
Every risk response needs a risk owner. On the exam, if a question asks what is missing from a risk response, check whether an owner has been assigned.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Risk Response Strategies for Threats
Risk response strategies for threats are the five approaches available to address negative risks: avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, and escalate. Each strategy aims to reduce the probability, impact, or exposure of a threat.
Risk Response Strategies for Opportunities
Risk response strategies for opportunities are the five approaches used to address positive risks: exploit, enhance, share, accept, and escalate. Each strategy aims to increase the probability, impact, or both of a beneficial risk event.
Implement Risk Responses
Implement Risk Responses is the process of executing the agreed-upon risk response plans. It ensures that risk responses are carried out as planned, with the goal of minimizing threats and maximizing opportunities.
Risk Register
The risk register is a project document that records the details of individual project risks, including their identification, analysis results, response plans, and current status.
Most-studied PMP concepts
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Risk Register
The risk register is a project document that records the details of individual project risks, including their identification, analysis results, response plans, and current status.
Transfer (Risk Strategy)
Transfer is a threat response strategy that shifts the negative impact and ownership of a threat to a third party. The risk is not eliminated but the responsibility for managing it moves to another entity.
Burndown Chart
A Burndown Chart is a graphical representation of work remaining versus time in a Sprint or release, showing whether the team is on track to complete the planned work.
Resource Leveling
Resource leveling is a resource optimization technique in which adjustments are made to the project schedule to keep resource usage at or below a defined limit, often resulting in a longer project duration.
Stakeholder Mapping
Stakeholder mapping is the visual representation of stakeholder relationships, influence, interest, or other attributes using grids, matrices, or diagrams to support analysis and engagement planning.
Relative Estimation
Relative Estimation is an agile technique where work items are sized in comparison to each other rather than in absolute units like hours or days, providing faster and more accurate estimates.
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
Cost Performance Index (CPI) is an EVM efficiency metric that measures cost performance as the ratio of earned value to actual cost: CPI = EV / AC.
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is an EVM efficiency metric that measures schedule performance as the ratio of earned value to planned value: SPI = EV / PV.
Earned Value Management (EVM)
Earned Value Management (EVM) is a methodology that integrates scope, schedule, and cost data to assess project performance and progress objectively.
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Risk Management
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