Fundamentals of Project Management, 4th Edition

CHAPTER 5Creating the Project Risk Plan

As mentioned in Chapter 1, risk management is the systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk. Systematic is a key word here, as many project managers attempt to deal with risks on an informal basis with little or no prior planning. Any project manager who operates in this manner is inviting failure, if not disaster. These are strong words, but appropriate for an important topic. A formal, comprehensive project risk plan allows the project manager to be proactive regarding the innumerable things that can and do go wrong with a project. Without this plan, you are forced to manage reactively when things go wrong—easily the most expensive approach. A systematic process adds ...