The Project Management Tool Kit: 100 Tips and Techniques for Getting the Job Done Right

Impact Ranges

Risk impact can be difficult to define as it has many dimensions. Impact may be measured in many different ways, such as time, cost, effort, scope change, team confidence, and customer trust. As with probability, the minimum is zero, but the maximum value is specific to the risk. Impact ranges for qualitative risk assessment generally rely on categories defined by the magnitude of risk consequences.

Although any number of impact categories may be defined, for most projects adequate qualitative analysis can be done using three ranges, typically defined as:

• High: Project objectives must be changed (scope, schedule, or resource). ...