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11 - PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT

and communicating risks, there should be a designated risk management leader. Specialized domain knowledge
may make risks more apparent to some team members than to others.

Risk management planning is an element of project planning and is reflected in a software project plan at many
levels, including risk management activities, data gathering, monitoring, decisions and assessments, and changes
to work plans. Depending upon the nature of risks, the life cycle model and processes may be adjusted. Each of the
assumptions and constraints used to develop the project plan should be examined for risk.

Projects can take a proactive risk-driven approach, prioritizing high-risk items and tackling them early in the
project while there is time to try alternative approaches and to improve on initial efforts. Thus, risks relating to software
requirements and architecture are typically handled earlier in the project life cycle. By proactively undertaking high-
risk work early, the software project team can reduce the overall impact to the project. By deferring high-risk work,
problems may result and the probability of rework or a revised approach is much higher while the time remaining
to recover from problems is short. Simply put, it is more efficient and effective to resolve risks earlier than later.

11.1.2 Plan Risk Management: Tools and Techniques

The tools and techniques for planning risk management in Section 11.1.2 of the PMBOK Guide are applicable
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tools and techniques for planning software project risk management with the additional considerations in
Section 11.1.2.4 of this Software Extension.

11.1.2.1 Analytical Techniques

See Section 11.1.2.1 of the PMBOK Guide.
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11.1.2.2 Expert Judgment

See Section 11.1.2.2 of the PMBOK Guide.
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11.1.2.3 Meetings

See Section 11.1.2.3 of the PMBOK Guide.
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11.1.2.4 Additional Considerations

Adaptive life cycle software projects pull requirements and user stories from a backlog that may undergo frequent
reprioritization; this permits risk management actions as early as possible in the project life cycle, minimizing
delayed and compounded effects. Also, since integration and regression testing is built into each iterative cycle,
the probability of untested high-risk elements in the product towards the end of the project is greatly reduced.
All software project managers and teams, regardless of life cycle, can choose to address high-risk activities first.
However, adaptive projects have additional flexibility for risk management because the software project team can
pull high-risk stories and features forward from the backlog.

194 ©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition
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