Honeymoon Hangover:
The Happy Beginnings of a Creeping Scope

Project Risks

The situation with risks is similar with that of assumptions. Like assumptions, risks may not have been described in a comprehensive or integrated fashion in the contractor’s proposal (unless the solicitation required it) or the risks may not have been treated with equal prominence in the proposed approach. As a result, project stakeholders and the government program staff may not be fully aware, or are unevenly aware, of the risks anticipated in the project. In addition, information may now be available to the project team or events might have occurred since the solicitation’s release that bear on the probability or impact of any risk.

The process for developing and presenting the project’s risks also parallels that used for Product Standards and Project Assumptions. That is, based on draft materials developed prior to the kickoff meeting the project risks are presented, discussed, revised and agreed upon during the meeting.

The level of detail used in the risk review will probably be tailored to the number and nature of risks and the time constraints of the kickoff meeting. At a minimum, though, the review should identify all likely risks and/or those with substantial project impacts. The risk mitigation plan for each high-probability risk should also be noted. A standard risk matrix, such as the one at right, would be useful in displaying the project’s overall risk posture.