Project Start-up

One Time Activities

• 1. Is your approach to managing risk defined in a Risk Management Plan?
• 2. Has the Risk Management Plan been reviewed and approved by the appropriate sign-off authority?
• 3. Have the roles and responsibilities for managing risks been clearly defined?
• 4. Is there a process in place to regularly review and update the Risk Register
• 5. Are risk monitoring and control mechanisms established to track the status and progress of identified risks.
• 6. Is there a communication plan in place to share risk information with relevant stakeholders?
• 7. Has the Risk Management Plan been integrated into other project management processes, such as planning, scheduling, and budgeting?
• 8. Are there mechanisms in place to capture and document lessons learned from past risk events or projects?
• 9. Are there mechanisms to ensure ongoing training and awareness of risk management principles and practices?
• 10. Are there procedures in place for reporting and escalating risks to the appropriate levels of management?
• 11. Does the Risk Management Plan include provisions for continuous improvement and refinement of risk management processes?
• 12. Have you scheduled Risk Workshops with your Project Team and stakeholders to brainstorm and identify potential risks?
• 13. Have you identified who is responsible for maintaining the Risk Register?
• 14. Does the Project Team know what to do if they identify a risk?
• 15. Is the Risk Register accessible to all Project Team members?
• 16. Has the Risk Register been shared, or its location communicated to the Project Team and appropriate stakeholders?
• 17. Is there a process for confirming Risk Owners and making sure that they are clear on their responsibilities?
• 18. Is there an agreed format for writing risk descriptions? For example, ‘there is a risk that x will happen if y’.
• 19. Are the Project Team trained on the difference between risks and issues?
• 20. Is there a process and form for documenting details about specific high priority risks? For example, a Risk Data Sheet Template or a Risk Mitigation Report.

Project Delivery

Risk Register Checks

• 1. Is every risk clear and understandable?
• 2. Are there mitigating actions for each risk?
• 3. Is there a contingency plan in place for each risk?
• 4. Does each risk have a rating for severity, impact, and proximity?
• 5. Are there actions / next steps for each risk?
• 6. Has each risk been reviewed in the last week?
• 7. Have high severity, high impact risks been shared with the project board/sponsor?
• 8. Does each risk have a named Risk Owner who is clear on their responsibilities?

Iterative, ongoing activities

• 1. Is the Risk Register being updated as specified in the Risk Management Plan?
• 2. Are the Project Status Reports used to keep the Project Board/ Sponsor and Stakeholders updated on the progress of mitigating actions?
• 3. Are the Project Team updated on the status of open risks via regular team meetings?
• 4. Is the project manager notified of all risks regardless of the perceived size or impact?
• Are all risk responses considered when reviewing new risks? In other words don't just consider reducing the likelihood of a risk occuring.