Network Diagram

A network diagram is a dependency-sequenced

organization of the projects activities.

To evaluate risks, look at the network diagram for:

Estimates
Path convergence
The allocation of resources and their skills
Parallel activities
The critical path
The number of near-critical paths
Dependencies

Estimate for Time and Cost

In order to minimize risk to the project and to improve
accuracy, estimates are created by people doing the
work, whenever feasible, and are based on the work
packages identified in the work breakdown structure or
the activities within those work packages.

 The following are question about time and cost

estimates to consider when identifying risks:
Who created the estimate?
What is the estimators knowledge of what they estimated?
What is the estimators confidence level regarding the
estimate?
Is the estimate based on detailed activities or eork packages?
What method was used for estimating?

Human Resource Plan

The human resource plan is a formal plan identifying
when and how the team and other stakeholders will be
involved in the project, and what roles they will perform.
The following are question about the human resource
plan to consider when identifying risks:
Does such plan exist?
Are there any troublesome stakeholders involved?
What is the knowledge level and skill set of the stakeholder?
Will they need additional training?

Communications Management Plan

Communication is a critical part of succesful risk
management.
It informs stakeholders how and in what form
communications will be handled on the project.
The plan may include the following information:
What information needs to be collected and when
Who will receive the information
The method that will be used to gather and store information

 Specific communication checkpoints include:

When the charter is finalized
When creating monthly report
When creating team meeting agendas and meeting minutes

The following are question about the communications

management plan to consider when identifying risks:

Do you have people on your team who are poor communicators?

What areas need specific and careful management of communicators?
Where are you most likely to have communication problems?
How do you know your methods of communication are most effective
for the stakeholder and the situation?

Procurement Management Plan

Is a formal or informal plan for a project that describes
what part(s) of the project will be purchased under
contract or purchase order.
The following are question about the procurements
management plan to consider when identifying risks:
Where are you involved in creating the contract before it was
signed?
Was risk management done before the contract was signed?
What is your level of expertise in managing contracts?
Have you worked with the sellers before?
What are the particular terms and condition of the contract?
What are the deliverables and performance periods?

Organizational Process Assets

A company should already have in place company policies,
procedures, and templates for risk management.
Common templates and procedures include:

Reporting forms for risk

Standard probability and impact scales
Procedures for the involvement of stakeholders in risk management
Policies identifying who needs to approve risk response plans
Risk ranking standards for go/no-go decisions
Procedures for risk audits

People are constantly looking for templates, as if the right

template will make a great project manager

Historical Records from Previous

Projects
How helpful would it be to have of risks from all the recent
projects your company or department has completed or is in the
midst of? This is the value of historical period
Historical records may include the following information from
previous, similiar projects:
Historical context of past projects and project phases(e.g., economic
conditions, organizational issues such as reorganizations, merger and
company goals)
Output from project planning
Outputs from risk management
Benchmark found
Metrics created

Lesson Learned from Previous

Projects
Historical records also include lesson learned, which
document what whent right, what went wrong, or what
would have been done differently by past projects teams if
they could execute their projects again.
The following are questions about organizational process
assets to consider when identifuing risk:
Has a project similiar to yours been succesfully completed in your
organization?
What risks did past, similiar project experience?
What policies and procedures are to be used that no one follows,
or that could be misunderstood?

Risk Tolerance Areas

It is important to determine in what areas the company
and key stakeholders are willing to accept risk.

Risk Thresholds
Risk thresholds are a companion to the concept of
tolerance areas.

Collect Risk Tolerance and Threshold

Information During the Identify Risks
Process
Stakeholders, project constraints, and project
requirements are identified earlier in the project
managemnt process. This information will be used to
help determine the impact of risks and the risk
response.