|
Definition: Risks that may affect the project for better or worse can be identified and organized into risk categories. Risk categories should be well defined and should reflect common sources of risk for the industry or application area. Categories include the following:
• Technical, quality, or performance risks—such as reliance on unproven or complex technology, unrealistic performance
goals, changes to the technology used or to industry standards during the project
• Project-management risks—such as poor allocation of time and resources, inadequate quality of the project plan, poor use of project management disciplines
• Organizational risks—such as cost, time, and scope objectives that are internally inconsistent, lack of prioritization of
projects, inadequacy or interruption of funding, and resource conflicts with other projects in the organization
• External risks—such as shifting legal or regulatory environment, labor issues, changing owner priorities, country risk, and weather. Force majeure risks such as earthquakes, floods, and civil unrest generally require disaster recovery actions rather than risk management.
Acceptance Level: Generally accepted
Alternative or Related Terms: Risk management, risk identification
Application Areas/Intended Uses: Risk categories are an input into the risk identification process.
Chief Advantages: Identifying risk categories helps classify a wide range of potential project risk sources.
Additional Reading:
Balancing Project Risks and Opportunities. Kalle Kahkonen. PMI 2000 Seminars & Symposium Proceedings, Houston, Texas USA.
Contingency Planning as a Necessity. Jerry F. Heimann. PMI 2000 Seminars & Symposium Proceedings, Houston, Texas USA.
Contingency, Risk, and Ensuring Quality. Lary A. Mars. PM Network. December 2000, 56- 59.
Developing a Risk Management Matrix for Effective Project Planning—An Empirical Study.
Sumit Datta and S.K. Mukherjee. Project Management Journal, June 2001, 45-57.
How Risk Management Has Become a Way of Life in Project Management. Arley R.
Bedillion and Thomas H. Orr. PMI 1999 Seminars & Symposium Proceedings, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.
|
