Once you reach this point, your risk register should be updated with a prioritized list of risks. The PMP Certification Exam will ask questions about risk response. During the process of planning risk responses, you will determine the most appropriate responses to risks and assign an accountable person to manage each risk.
Plan Risk Responses. Developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to project objectives.
Keep in mind several key points when planning risk responses:
Responses need to be appropriate to the significance of the risk. A low risk doesn’t require a lot of time and effort to develop a response.
Responses need to be cost effective. Don’t spend more money to respond to a risk than the value of the event itself.
Responses should be realistic given the environment. If your project is fairly low in priority in the project portfolio, don’t expect people to drop what they’re doing to respond to a minor risk.
Risks need to be assigned to someone to manage. Without an accountable person to watch for the event, implement proactive responses, and notice when changes in the environment affect the risk, you can’t expect to be able to respond effectively.
All parties need to agree on the approach for managing a risk. If you think a vendor should take steps to reduce the probability of a risk event, make sure that the vendor agrees to take those steps.
Responses need to be timely. Whenever possible, actions should be based on a proactive solution, not a reactive response.
Many risk events will have multiple responses. These responses will likely show up in components of the project management plan. For instance, you might need to put activities into the schedule to avoid or mitigate certain events. You might also need to add funds to accommodate transferring the risk to a vendor.