Project Portfolio & Resource Management
Project risk register, matrix and response plans
Track optional project risks separately from resource-risk indicators. Under the default policy, every High-impact risk is Red regardless of probability; missing assessments remain Unassessed.
Steps to follow
- 1
Probability versus impact: Probability is how likely the event is within your review period. Impact is the consequence if it happens. Low probability can still have High impact. Use the workspace definitions and examples beside the assessment fields.
- 2
Default 3×3 policy: Every High-impact risk is Red (Priority attention) under the default policy, regardless of probability. High probability with Low impact is Yellow; Medium/Low and Low/Low are Green. All Medium-impact cells are Yellow except High/Medium, which is Red. This is a cell mapping, not multiplication. Workspace administrators can preview and explicitly save a new version of the definitions and mappings. Historical assessments keep their saved policy and severity.
- 3
Response plans and acceptance: Every risk has a response-plan section. Mitigate, Avoid and Transfer need a response description. Accept requires an acceptance rationale. Missing owners, plans and review dates are flagged. Saving a plan or completing a linked action never lowers a rating or closes a risk. Materialized means the event occurred, not that it was resolved; closure requires a reason.
- 4
Initial and residual assessments: Initial records the risk assessment before evaluating the response. Residual is optional and is recorded separately after mitigation has been implemented and evaluated, with assessor, date and rationale. Choose one assessment basis for the matrix, summaries and exports; they never mix initial and residual ratings. Missing either probability or impact stays Gray (Unassessed), never Green.
- 5
Optional financial exposure: Enter a numeric probability from 0–100%, estimated financial impact and currency only when known. Expected monetary exposure equals probability divided by 100 times financial impact. No numeric probability is inferred from Low/Medium/High. Missing values differ from zero. Totals stay separate by currency and assessment basis. These are estimates, not predicted losses.
- 6
Optional project register: An empty register means Not assessed. An authorized PM or Manager may record Reviewed—no risks identified with a date and note when there are no active risks. The review history is retained. PMs and Managers manage risks; Contributors add notes and Guests/Viewers remain read-only. Ownership grants no additional permissions. Supporting files stay in the project Documents library. The register is separate from resource-risk indicators and never changes official health, schedules, baselines, allocations or utilization.