PMI-RMP flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Risk Management Plan

The subsidiary plan that defines methodology, roles, funding, timing, risk categories, probability and impact definitions, thresholds, and reporting formats used to manage risk on the project.

Risk Appetite

The amount and type of risk an organization is willing to pursue or retain in pursuit of its objectives. It is set at organizational level and bounds project-level risk taking.

Risk Tolerance

The acceptable variation from a stated objective that an organization or stakeholder is willing to withstand. It is narrower than appetite and is often quantified in cost, time, or quality terms.

Risk Threshold

A measurable level of risk exposure above which action must be taken and below which the risk may be accepted. Thresholds derive from stakeholder tolerance and are recorded in the risk management plan.

Risk Breakdown Structure

A hierarchical, category-based representation of the sources of risk on a project, such as technical, external, organizational, and project management. It structures identification and supports risk categorization.

Contingency Reserve

Time or money included in the approved cost or schedule baseline to cover identified risks that have been accepted. It addresses known-unknowns and is released as those risks materialize.

Risk Owner

The single person accountable for a specific risk, its response, and its monitoring. The role goes to whoever is best positioned with authority and competence, not automatically the project manager.

Stakeholder Register

A project document recording identified stakeholders, their roles, expectations, influence, interest, and risk tolerance. It is a primary input to risk identification and risk communication planning.

Salience Model

A stakeholder classification model using three attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. Stakeholders possessing all three are definitive and require the closest engagement and risk communication.

Engagement Assessment Matrix

A tool comparing each stakeholder's current engagement level with the desired level across five categories: unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, and leading. Gaps drive communication actions.

Power-Interest Grid

A stakeholder mapping tool. High power and high interest stakeholders are managed closely; high power and low interest are kept satisfied; low power and high interest are kept informed; low on both are monitored.

Risk Register

The document recording each identified risk with its identifier, description, cause, effect, category, owner, probability, impact, score, planned response, trigger, and current status.

Cause-Risk-Effect Format

A structured statement separating the root cause, the uncertain event, and the consequence, as in: because of a cause, a risk may occur, leading to an effect on an objective.

Delphi Technique

An anonymous, iterative expert-consensus technique in which a facilitator collects estimates, summarizes them, and re-polls until convergence. It reduces domination by senior or vocal participants.

Assumption Analysis

Examining the project's documented assumptions and constraints for inaccuracy, instability, or inconsistency. Invalid assumptions are a major source of unidentified risk and are logged in the assumption log.

Risk versus Issue

A risk is an uncertain future event that may affect objectives; an issue is a risk that has already occurred. Issues move to the issue log for resolution and tracking.

Expected Monetary Value

A quantitative measure computed as probability multiplied by impact, summed across possible outcomes. It supports comparing risks and selecting decision tree branches on a common monetary basis.

Decision Tree Analysis

A diagram of choices, chance events, and outcomes, each with a probability and value. Expected monetary value is calculated for each branch and the highest-value path is selected.

Tornado Diagram

A sensitivity display ranking risk variables by the size of their effect on an objective. Bars are ordered widest to narrowest, showing which risks most influence the outcome.

Monte Carlo Simulation

A modeling technique that iterates cost or schedule models hundreds to thousands of times using input probability distributions. Outputs a cumulative distribution used to select confidence levels and reserves.

Probability-Impact Matrix

A grid plotting each risk's probability against its impact and mapping the combination to priority bands, such as low, moderate, high, or extreme, according to defined thresholds.

Risk Data Quality Assessment

Evaluating the accuracy, objectivity, reliability, and timeliness of information about a risk. Poor-quality data means the risk should be re-assessed before quantitative analysis or response planning.

Risk Mitigation

A threat response that reduces the probability of occurrence, the impact of occurrence, or both, down to an acceptable residual level. It does not eliminate the risk entirely.

Risk Transfer

A threat response that shifts ownership of the risk and its financial consequence to a third party, such as through insurance, warranties, or fixed-price contracts. The risk itself remains.

Risk Escalation

A response used when a threat or opportunity falls outside the project's scope or the project manager's authority, so it is referred to program, portfolio, or another management level.

Fallback Plan

A pre-developed secondary response implemented when the primary risk response proves insufficient or ineffective. It may be funded from contingency reserve and is documented in the risk register.

Secondary Risk

A new risk created as a direct consequence of implementing a risk response. It must be identified, analyzed, assigned an owner, and managed like any originally identified risk.

Risk Audit

A structured review examining whether the risk management process is being performed effectively and whether risk evaluations are accurate. Findings feed corrective action and process improvement.

Workaround

An unplanned, reactive response to a risk that was not identified or not accepted and has now occurred. Unlike a contingency plan, it is improvised at the time of impact.

Risk Burndown Chart

A graph of cumulative risk exposure plotted against time across the project. It shows whether responses are reducing exposure and whether new identification is outpacing treatment.

Reserve Analysis

Monitoring the remaining contingency reserve against the remaining risk exposure. Reserve trending toward zero while significant risks stay open signals escalation and possible re-planning.

Management Reserve

Budget held outside the performance measurement baseline for unidentified risks and unplanned scope, often called unknown-unknowns. Drawing on it usually requires sponsor or management approval.