HOW TO GO ABOUT IT
Preparation
1.
Identify a group of insightful and experienced people from the company, who have prior experience of projects within the company, both from a technology and a commercial viewpoint.
2.
Together with the group, gather a gross list of risks connected to the project upon which you are working. This list can be generated from a combination of sources, such as prior experience, own scepticism, or the result of a structured brainstorm.
Applying the Risk Register template
3.
Take the Risk Register template and begin filling in the fields – one row per identified risk. An explanation of each field in the template is provided below and is accompanied by an example.
- Risk code: This simply helps the project manager to keep track of each risk and creates a reference to check performance against.
- Risk name: The risk is described in this field – only one risk per entry.
- Risk category: A category list can be defined, so as to facilitate an easy organization of the risks for the company. The categories could relate to the product life cycle, company departments, or a complete other set of categories.
- Probability (1-3): Enter a simple score, showing 1 for a low likelihood of the risk materializing into an actual problem, 3 for a high likelihood.
- Impact (1-3): Evaluate the potential negative impact on the project and/or company, from 1 to low negative impact to 3, for high negative impact.
- Risk score: Multiply the probability score with the impact score, to attain a risk score. This score should help the company to prioritize their efforts.
- Mitigation: Write here a consideration of how which measures could (and probably will) be taken to stop the risk from materializing.
- Contingency: Prepare for worst-case by preparing a contingency plan, in case the risk does manifest itself as an actual problem.
- Action date: Record when it is decided to take action
- Action by: Record who is responsible for mitigating each risk.
