Project Risk Factors Checklist

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Version 2.0April 27, 2005 Project risk factors checklist

InstructionsSection I of this template is designed to help you determine whether there are inherent risks to yourproject. The results should be used as guidelines, since there will be other factors that may lower or raise

the risk level. For instance, you may have a large project, which implies higher risk. This risk could bereduced if you also have an experienced project manager. Depending on where your projectcharacteristics fall, you can evaluate whether your risk is high, medium, or low. If your project has manyhigh-risk characteristics, it does not mean you will not be successful. However, it does mean that youshould put a plan into place to manage the risk.

This checklist can be especially valuable if your organization customizes the specific risk characteristicsand risk criteria that apply to your company. For instance, you may find that in your organization, a projectof fewer than 5,000 hours is considered low risk, while one that is 20,000 hours or more is high risk.

When you have completed the checklist, look at all of the high-risk items and refer to Section II of thistemplate. In this section, you will see each high-risk factor and examples of problems you may encounter.For each high-risk factor, create a plan to ensure that the risk is mitigated. The second column of SectionII shows examples of activities that can be added to the risk plan to help mitigate the risk.

After youve evaluated the high-risk factors, look at the medium-level risks to determine whether theimpact is severe enough that you should create a mitigation plan for those risks as well. Then, look at anylow-risk items and see whether they should be listed as assumptions. In this way, you recognize thatthere is a potential for problems, but because the risk is low, you youre assuming that the condition willnot occur. The activities associated with managing the various risks should then be moved to your projectworkplan.

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Project risk factors checklist

Section IProject risk factorsCharacteristics Low risk Medium risk High risk

The business benefit of the project is: Well defined

The scope of the project is: Well defined

The project sponsor is: Identified, committed, and enthusiastic

The business customer commitment level is: Passionate and enthusiastic

The project manager has: Similar experience on multiple projects

The project team is: Located together

Project management processes and proceduresare:

Familiar and will be utilized

The business requirements of the project are: Understood and straightforward

The system availability requirements include: Windows of availability and downtime The technical requirements are: Similar to others in the company

The data requirements are: Simple

The number of locations to deploy to is: One

The number of system interfaces are: One or none

The number of organizations this will affect is: One or two

The total estimated effort hours are: Fewer than 1,000

The total estimated project duration is: Fewer than three months

The subject matter is: Well known by the project team

The project is dependent on: Zero or one outside project or team


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Business processes, procedures, policies require: Little or no change

Changes to the organizational structure require: Little or no change

The technology being utilized consists of: Existing software, hardware, languages,databases, and tools

The quality of current data is: Well defined and simple to convert

If a package implementation: No (or minimal) customization is needed The product or release is stable

The vendor is familiar in this market




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Section IIRisk management strategy tablesHigh-risk factors/Potential problems Risk management activities

The business benefit of the project is poorly defined Project is in jeopardy of being placed on hold or cancelled if

higher value work is identified Harder to get resources required Hard to evaluate the value of the project to the organization Hard to define scope changes in terms of cost/benefit Hard to know if business value was achieved when project is

complete

Try to get business customer to quantify the overal Look at the major requirements and try to quantify

deliverables Document the intangible benefit that the project wi Review prior similar projects to see how the benefi Dont start the project while the business value is u

The scope of the project is poorly defined Hard to provide sound estimates May spend time and cost on areas out of scope Hard to gather concise requirements Difficult to write project definition and workplan Hard to invoke scope-change procedures Project deliverables are poorly defined

Focus on firming up scope in the planning process Define various components of scope, such as what

deliverables are expected, what type of information Clearly define what is out of scope for the project Begin to define business requirements at a high lev

define scope Ask project sponsor to make decision on conflictin Document all scope assumptions when providing e

duration Use pictures or diagrams to communicate scope an Establish firm scope-change procedures up front Ensure the project definition and business requirem

signed off on Distribute scope statements to all stakeholders for c Do not begin project until scope is clear




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roject risk factors checklist



Package implementation is from a new vendor Possibility that vendor may not survive and leave you with no

support Upgrades may be in jeopardy if there are not enough sales in the

marketplace No prior relationships from which to build a quick partnership

Legal and financial concerns may delay contracts and the project

Make sure that all agreements with the vendor be in Insist that source code be placed in escrow in case Ask the vendor to be a part of the project team

Establish agreements with the vendor stipulating suresolution times

Maintain a vendor log to track problems with the p Make sure the vendor is financially sound

P


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Additional resources Sign up for our Software/Web Development NetNote , delivered on Mondays and Thursdays. Sign up for our IT Management NetNote , delivered on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays Check out all of TechRepublic's newsletter offerings . Learn the secret of effective scope change management (TechRepublic) Demystify scope definition by considering these categories (TechRepublic) Use an initial Discovery Project to define very large projects (TechRepublic)

istory

Modifications: Content reformatted; resources added

Version hVersion: 2.0

Published: April 27, 2005Originally published: June 28, 2001

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Project Risk Factors Checklist

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