Risk Tracking and Control

 

After risks are identified, analyzed, and prioritized, and actions are established, it is essential that the team regularly monitor the progress of the product and the resolution of the risk items, taking corrective action when necessary. This monitoring can be done as part of the team project management activities or via explicit risk management activities. Often teams regularly monitor their Top 10 risks.

Risks need to be revisited at regular intervals for the team to reevaluate each risk to determine when new circumstances caused its probability and/or impact to change. At each interval, some risks may be added to the list and others taken away. Risks need to be reprioritized to see which are moved “above the line” and need to have action plans and which move “below the line” and no longer need action plans.

As time passes and more is learned about the project, the information gained over time may alter the risk profile considerably. Additionally, time may make it possible to refine the risk into a set of more detailed risks. These refined risks may be easier to mitigate, monitor, and manage.