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Risk Tracking template

We’ve all cracked a smile at “you had one job” memes. Arguably, a project manager’s “one job” is to mitigate risk. Risks threaten all projects and realized Risks (aka Issues) can bring projects to a grinding halt. There’s no better tool than a Risk Tracking template to keep Risks away from a project. This powerful project management tool will allow you to stay calm, cool, and collected when others around you are running around like the sky is falling.

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Why use a Risk Tracking Template?

We’ll use the example of a road trip to show how important it is to use a Risk Tracking template. All trips involve risks, but something that would cause major problems on the road is a flat tire. You identify that risk, deem it important enough to plan for, and determine to keep a new spare tire in the trunk. If a flat tire does occur and you become stranded (now an Issue), you have a plan to get back on the road.

Every project is a journey and somewhere along the way it will have a flat tire, run out of gas, overheat, or any one of a host of other problems. A Risk Tracking Template helps to:

Identify Potential Risks - It causes you to think through all the things that could possibly go wrong.
Identify Which Risks to Tackle First - Tagging risks with Impact and Probability ratings immediately highlights the biggest areas of concern.
Develop a Response to Risk - If a risk does occur, you now have an agreed-upon approach to tackle the issue at hand.
Assign Ownership - Accountability for risk management is decided up front, leaving no room for surprises when something occurs later.

Use a Risk Tracking template to capture and manage risks on your project

How do you Record Risks?

Follow these steps to make the most of the Risk Tracking Template:

Identify as many Risks as You Can - Pull stakeholders together and capture all the things that could possibly go wrong on your project and list them in the “Description of Risk” column. Go ahead and describe the “Impact” at this point as well.
Determine Risk Level and Probability for Each Risk - Now, go back and determine the “Risk Level” and “Probability” of each Risk. Will the impact to your project be High, Medium, or Low? Is the possibility that it will occur High, Medium, or Low?
Prioritize Your List - Sort the list by High Risk Level and High Probability. Tackle the high-impact risks on your project that are most likely to occur. It will help you not spend time on low-impact risks that probably won’t happen, or, you may just choose to live with those risks.
Develop Risk Response and Assign an Owner - Think through the steps to take when a Risk does become an issue and add that to the “Risk Response” column. Identify an owner, and, more importantly, make sure the owner has been notified! You can also add further notes to provide more detail.

Then, work the list. Review it in status meetings and adjust accordingly. Anticipate that new risks will surface and need to go through the process above. Other risks no longer on the radar screen can be removed or closed.

Benefits of Using a Risk Tracking Template

When something goes wrong on your project (as it will), you must be able to methodically execute against a plan rather than wonder what to do next. This results in:

Peace of Mind - You can sleep at night because the team has thought through what can go wrong and how to deal with the impact.
Keeping Your Project on Track - Fixing a flat on your project may take a bit of time, but that time can easily be recouped by speeding up other areas of the project.
Minimizing Surprises - Wouldn’t it be great to say, “Yeah, we thought that would happen, and here’s what we’re going to do about it,” rather than, “We didn’t see that coming!” and,
Providing Data for Future Projects - Come to the table at your next Lessons Learned session with how a Risk could be avoided altogether in the future.

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