Lessons · Project management · the risk register
The risk register: the list that is read every week or not at all
The risk register holds every identified risk with its statement, probability, impact, score, response, owner and status, and it is reviewed on a fixed rhythm.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
The risk that closed the project was in the register from month one, marked monitor, and nobody looked at it again. The register is not a document; it is a meeting that happens every week, with the list in front of it.
How to think about it
One row per risk. Score each by probability times impact and sort by the score. The top ones get a response and an owner; the rest are watched. Review it on a fixed day: what changed, what is new, what has closed.
Worked example
R-01. Vendor late. 30%. $8,000. Score 2,400. Mitigate: weekly vendor call. Owner: procurement. OpenOne row. Everything needed to act.
R-02. Key developer leaves. 20%. $30,000. Score 6,000. Mitigate: pair on all modules. Owner: PM. OpenHigher score, so higher on the list, so more attention.
R-03. Server delivered early. 25%. +$5,000. Score +1,250. Exploit: book the install crew early. Owner: PM. OpenAn opportunity, in the same list.
Review, every Monday: R-01 vendor call held, delivery confirmed; probability now 10%The register changed because the world did. That is the whole point of the review.
Your turn
Write the two numbers whose product ranks a risk.
score = probability ×
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
A register with no owners. A risk that belongs to everyone belongs to nobody, and it is the one that happens.