Risk response plan

The Risk response plan is a document resulting from the actions taken in the risk response planning process. It is an integral part of the project management plan. During its construction, data as well as experience are collected, saved and archived. Collecting this type of material is very important due to future events regarding the implementation of the given project stages or events. Probably a significant part of them in the existing form will not occur again. Also, the prospect of reusing the collected knowledge regarding the indicated event may seem unnecessary in the future, however, it is extremely valuable to collect this type of information in order to broaden the scope of skills and competences in the context of facing possible threats in the future. Thanks to this, it will be easier to identify this type of threat, develop strategies of conduct, and make decisions that are reasonable in a given situation. Therefore, it is important to determine the appropriate design of the risk response plan.

Components of the risk response plan

A properly constructed risk response plan should contain the following elements:

• risk identifier - it enables unambiguous and permanent determination of a given risk in the structure of the document
• detailed risk description
• impact of risk - divided into categories in the context of financial flows and time, which must be devoted to the risk
• risk response categories - a structured set of types of reactions
• characteristics of actions that will be implemented in the event of occurrence of given opportunities or threats
• risk owner - the person directly responsible for the given risk
• the owner of individual activities assigned to risk
• schedule of activities - determines the time necessary for effective operation; important for the success of the project is to determine the so-called "milestones" that are related to events relevant to a given project, such as completing a key task or receiving an administrative decision required for further action
• estimated risk response cost - should take into account the planned scope of work and planned resources that determine the costs of engagement and acquisition and direct costs, i.e. work, equipment and materials costs that will be used during the project implementation
• other - including opportunities or threats that may occur in relation to the selected reaction

Reasons for creating a risk response plan

The adopted risk response plan described in the document is created to manage a given threat. In addition to visualizing the guidelines of conduct, it outlines the rules and cycle of risk management. Thanks to this document, you get an insight into tips or patterns of proceedings coupled with possible threats, implemented solutions and their consequences. The risk response plan should be created in accordance with the adopted standards that allow the use of standardization to help find the data you need. This documentation should be done cyclically for each of the planned stages of the project or event. Doing so will allow you to quickly find information that can be helpful in a particular location, regardless of whether you need selective messages or analyzes of much more complex content. In addition, it will be much easier to look at existing phenomena comprehensively, and to prepare in the future for taking action to minimize, control or eliminate them.

Risk register

Effective planning of risk responses is possible thanks to keeping a register of risks, which allows them to be correctly identified, as well as expanding knowledge about the rules, diagrams and probabilities of their occurrence. A properly constructed risk register should contain a set of information collected so far about, inter alia, actions, symptoms of risk occurrence, division of responsibilities in case of their occurrence, analyzes regarding the use of material, financial or human resources.

Summary

It is extremely important to prepare for the occurrence of risk. This is of fundamental importance in the process of project management from particular areas of human activity, taking into account the most important from the point of view of the functioning of the free market and entrepreneurship, i.e. economic activity. Planning the solutions and ways to deal with situations resulting from various situations arising from the internal and external environment requires appropriate specialist knowledge, but also the ability to make decisions or the skills to build communication and crisis management.

Risk response plan — recommended articles

Stages of project — Structure of enterprise planning system — Risk category — Information and decision making — Scope of work — Project feasibility study — Stakeholder management plan — Design risk assessment — Business concept

References

• Fang, C., Marle, F., Xie, M., & Zio, E. (2013). An integrated framework for risk response planning under resource constraints in large engineering projects. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 60(3), 627-639.