RISK AND OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT PLAN

Project Name:
Project Manager:

1. Instructions for Using this Document

Section I

Risk Assessment Questionnaire

Use Section I of this template to identify risks and opportunities that will impact the project and
the level of threat or benefit they pose to the projects success. In this section, characteristics are
grouped in typical categories of project risk and opportunity. High, medium and low risk or
opportunity ratings are assigned to descriptions of each project characteristic. This list of
potential risks and opportunities is not exhaustive and is intended to provide a starting
point only.

The completed questionnaire and checklist will identify the projects risk and opportunity factors.
The results from the completed questionnaire and checklist should be used as guidelines; there
may be other factors that will lower or raise the risk level. Having many high-risk characteristics
does not necessarily mean the project will fail. However, it does mean that a plan must be put
into place to address each potential high-risk factor.

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

Use Section II of this template to analyze identified risks and opportunities and plan appropriate
responses. Early warning signs and examples of problems that may result from certain types of
high risks are listed alongside examples of activities that may be undertaken to mitigate or
respond to each risk.

For each high-risk factor identified in Section I, create a response plan in the Risk Response Plan
document to ensure that the risk is mitigated and does not impact project success. Consider the
example activities in Section II as examples of potential responses. The project team may
suggest additional response actions. After creating response plans for all the high-risk factors,
look at the medium-level risks to determine whether the impact is severe enough to warrant an
entry into the Risk Response Plan as well. If so, create entries in the Risk Response Plan for the
medium-risk factors. Low-risk factors may be considered assumptions, that is, there is a potential
for problems, but because the risk is low, you are assuming that the condition will not occur. The
Risk Response Plan is used throughout the project to monitor and control risks.

Section I

Risk and Opportunity Identification and Assessment Questionnaire

Characteristics

Low Impact

Medium Impact

High Impact

ORGANIZATION
A. Project Scope
A1

The scope of the project is:

[ ] Well-defined and understood [ ] Somewhat defined, but

subject to change

[ ] Poorly defined and/or

likely to change

Section I

Risk and Opportunity Identification and Assessment Questionnaire

Characteristics

Low Impact

A2

All Cooperating Agencies are:

[ ] identified and Committed

A3.

Historical information is (e.g. asbuilts, traffic/accident data):

[ ] Available

A4.

Environmental Constraints:

[ ] Categorical Exclusion

Medium Impact

High Impact

[ ] Identified and not committed [ } Unknown

[ ]Not available

[ ] Environmental Assessment [ ] Environmental Impact

Statement

B. Project Schedule
B1.

Are the projects major milestones: [ ] Flexible - may be established [ ] Firm - pre-established
by the project team

[ ] Fixed - pre-established
by a specific commitment
or legal requirement and
beyond the teams control

B2.

The total estimated effort hours

are:

[ ] Less than 2,000

[ ] Between 2,000 and 5,000

[ ] Greater than 5,000

B3.

Project duration (design) is

estimated at:

[ ] Less than 2 years

[ ]2 to 4 years

[ ] Greater than 4 years

C. Project Budget
C1.

The project budget (Preliminary

Engineering) is based upon:

[ ] CFLHD Work Breakdown

Structure Spreadsheet

[ ] Other methods or
techinques

C2.

The Preliminary Construction Cost [ ] CFLHD Risk Based

Estimate is based upon:
Spreadsheet

C3.

Program amount matches or

[ ] Funding is greater than
[ ] Funding meets estimated
[ ] Funding is less than
exceeds the estimated cost and is estimated construction cost
construction cost and expected estimated construction cost
stable.
and/or is expected to be stable. to remain relatively stable.
and/or its stability is highly
uncertain.

[ ] Other methods or
techniques

D. Management/Senior Leadership Support

D1.

The project sponsor (FLMA, State, [ ] Identified and committed

County) is:

[ ] Identified

[ ] Not identified or not

commited

E. Project Human Resources

E1.

The Project Managers experience [ ] Recent success in managing[ ] Recent success in managing[ ] No recent experience or
and training is:
projects similar to this one
a project not similar to this one project management
or trained and no actual
training
experience

E2.

Describe the experience of cross [ ] Experienced in use of tools [ ] Formal training in use of
[ ] No formal training or
functional team personnel with the and techniques
tools and techniques but little or practical experience in use
tools and techniques to be used.
no practical experience
of tools and techniques

Section I

Risk and Opportunity Identification and Assessment Questionnaire

Characteristics

E3.

Low Impact

The cross functional team is:

Medium Impact

[ ] Located together

High Impact

[ ] Dispersed at multiple
sites

F. Other Business or Organizational Impacts

F1

CFLHD processes, procedures,

policies require:

[ ] Little or no change

[ ] Occasional to frequent
changes

[ ] Substantial change

F3.

The number of functional areas

the project will affect are:

[ ] 1-4

[ ] 4-6

[ ] 6 or more

GENERAL Technical and Performance Risks

G. Technology
G1.

The technology being utilized

consists of:

[ ] Mature (existing design

[ ] Emerging
software, hardware, languages,
databases, and tools)

G2.

The technical requirements for this [ ] Similar to others in CFLHD

project are:

[ ] Leading Edge (new

design software, hardware,
languages, databases, or
tools (or new releases))

[ ] New and complex

PROJECT MANAGEMENT - Planning, Issue and Change Management, Quality Assurance

I. Evaluation of PM Risks
I1.

The overall assessment of Project [ ] The project is well planned

Management risk
and will be carried out in a
manner consistent with the
CFLHD project management
guidelines

[ ] Planning for this project

is inconsistent, incomplete
or in other ways of poor
quality AND/OR there are
problems with project
process that must be
addressed

EXTERNAL Vendor, Legal, Environmental, Regulatory,

J.A/E
J1.

If project is outsourced:

[ ] A/E is familiar in this market

J2.

Are A/E firms required and

committed to the project?

[ ] No A/E firms are not

required

Section II

[ ] A/E is new to this market

[ ] Yes Some A/E firms are
required (less than 50%) and
are expected to be signed
before start of project

[ ] Yes Project will be

staffed by A/E and/or
contractors commitment is
not expected to be complete
prior to start of project

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems
A. Scope

Risk Response Actions

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

Risk Response Actions

A1. The scope of the project is poorly defined:

Focus on firming up scope in the planning process

Hard to provide sound estimates

May spend time and cost on areas out of scope

Define various components of scope, such as what

departments are affected, what deliverables are
expected, what type of information is required

Hard to gather concise requirement

Clearly define what is out of scope for the project

Difficult to write project definition and work plan

Hard to invoke scope-change procedures

Begin to define business requirements at a high

level and then work upward to define scope

Project deliverables are poorly defined

Ask project sponsor to make decision on conflicting

scope statements

Document all scope assumptions when providing

estimates of work, cost, or duration

Use pictures or diagrams to communicate scope

and options

Establish firm scope-change procedures up front

Ensure the project definition and business

requirements are formally approved and signed off
on

Distribute scope statements to all stakeholders for

confirmation

Do not begin project until scope is clear

Not knowing the stakeholders early in the project phase will impact
the scope of the project

Allocate more time to identify all potential

stakeholders early in the process

A new stakeholder that was not identified earlier who have a

potential negative influence in the project

Conduct public meetings if necessary very early in

the planning process to identify all stakeholders

Get the public involved.

Try to contact the Agency/County to find

information

Conduct traffic counts early in the process to

assess traffic trends and forecast future demands

Conduct public meeting to gather historical data,

accidents, maintenance areas.

Get seed funds to conduct traffic studies early in

the process

Consider other project alternatives

Consider reducing the scope of work

Try to get buy-in from all the stakeholders early in

the process on the preferred alternative

If internal environmental staff is not experienced,

get the A/E environmental firm involved early in the
process.

A2. The stakeholders are unknown:

A3. Historical information is not available:

Will require work and resources to create data (traffic data,

pavement analysis, accident data)
Hard to estimate scope and cost

A4. Environmental constraints:

If a project requires an EIS, the risk is very high due to the

environmental analysis and mitigation measures.

B. Schedule

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

B1. The projects major milestones and operational dates are fixed.
They were pre-established externally or by legal requirements
beyond control of the project team:

Work must be scheduled to fit within this schedule constraint

Most likely the schedule requirements will be impossible to meet

Hurried activity and schedule requirements will cause errors

Will create conflicts

B2. High number of estimated effort hours:

Risk Response Actions

Re-negotiate schedule requirements to fit required

activities

Re-negotiate scope to limit activities deemed

doable in allotted time

Establish new agreements with client

agencies/costumers

Put aggressive project tracking and monitoring plan

in place

Communicate status reports on regular basis

Use a project management tool to control resource

utilization

Have team members utilize weekly status reports to

report on progress against their assigned work plan
activities

Implication of a high number of effort hours is that there are many

people involved and more complexity

Harder to communicate effectively with the team

Bottlenecks can occur when decisions are needed quickly

Organize team-building activities to build cohesion

More chance of people problems

Increased chance of turnover

Schedule status meetings to keep people informed

of project status

More people to train

Utilize structured internal procedures for scope,

issue, quality, and risk management

Break the project into smaller, shorter tasks

Reduce available project work time per person, per

day to recognize additional people and team-related
activities

Break the project into smaller, shorter subprojects

Identify clear milestones to check that the project is

on schedule

Be diligent using formal change management

procedures

Rotate team members into different roles to keep

up the interest level

Strive to get ahead of schedule as early as

possible.

Instill a sense of urgency from the start of the

project

Organize team-building activities to build cohesion

and reduce friction

B3. Long estimated project duration:

Harder to manage the schedule

Easier for the team and the customer to drift or lose focus

More chance that project will lose organizational commitment

More chance business requirements will change

More chance of change in software or hardware versions

Difficult to instill sense of urgency at the beginning of project

More chance of team and customer turnover

C. Budget
C1. Project budget was not established with any proven tool or by any
experienced person:

Re-estimate the project using proven tools and

experienced personnel

Budget will most likely not be accurate

Revise scope to fit within the funding available

Budget will not be structured in manor to facilitate tracking and

control.

Dont start the project until a better budget can be

established

There will be unrealistic expectations for what can be accomplished

within the budget.

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

C2. Project funding is less than the estimated cost and is unstable:

Project will be unable to fulfill expectations

Project will likely exceed its funding

Risk Response Actions

Renegotiate scope to fit within the funding available

Dont start the project until an adequate budget or

lesser scope is established

Establish a strong steering committee to help guide

the project

Establish a process for resolving disputes between

departments

Try to identify a different sponsor

D. Management/Senior Leadership Support

D1. The project sponsor is not identified or not enthusiastic:

Project may not get the resources it needs

Project may not have the long-term commitment needed

Political battles may delay the project

Issues and change requests may not be resolved in a timely manner

Ask the sponsor to delegate full authority to another

person who can act on their behalf

Dont start the project

Provide up-front project management training

E. Human Resources
E1. Project management experience is light:

May take longer to define the project and build work plan

May make more mistakes in judgment, causing rework and project

delays

Designate a more senior person to coach and

mentor the project manager

Break the project into smaller pieces that are easier

to manage

Put a strong quality-assurance process in place to

ensure the project is on the right track

Make sure the major deliverables are formally

approved

Utilize strong team leaders and team members to

bring additional experience to bear

Provide training to the project manager and project

team on sound project management processes and
procedures utilizing both the internal and external
processes for delivering projects at CFLHD

More difficulty organizing and managing a complex project

May not be familiar with sound project management practices

May not know when to call for help

E2. Project management processes are unfamiliar or will not be used:

Team may have a difficult time understanding how to raise issues,

scope changes, and risks

Project may get out of control as the internal processes become

more complex and harder to manage

Assign an experienced project management coach

or mentor to the project

Communication will tend to be poorer

Project deliverables might be completed in different formats

Break the project into smaller pieces that can be

managed with less-rigorous project management

Issues may not be addressed in a timely manner, scope changes

may be adopted without thought of impact to the project, risks may
be ignored, and quality may be compromised

Chance that the project may be in trouble before it is recognized

Define and gain approval for a set of project

management procedures before the project starts,
including issues management, change
management, risk management, and quality
management

Create a solid communication plan to ensure

everyone knows whats going on and can provide
feedback

Solicit input on issues, risk, scope change, and

quality concerns on an ongoing basis

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

E3. PF

Harder to communicate effectively

Less team interaction and cohesion

Harder to build personal relationship with the entire team

Some members may feel isolated and not a part of the team

Technology problems may result in productivity decrease

Risk Response Actions

Try to get the team into one location, at least for the
length of the project

Create an aggressive communication plan to

ensure the team communicates effectively

Hold regular meetings where the entire team meets

face-to-face

Schedule team-building activities where the entire

team meets face-to-face

Have backup methods to communicate if the

primary technology fails

Maintain frequent contact by phone with remote

team members

Create a central repository to hold the project

documentation that all team members can access

Document all current policies and processes and

ensure that they are correct

Communicate precisely how the new processes

differ from the old ones

Communicate potential changes as far in advance

as possible

F. Business or Organizational Impacts

F1. CFLHD processes and policies require substantial change:

Policy changes could delay the project

People will be confused with new processes, which will affect their
ability to utilize the solution

Possibility that new processes will not be fully integrated at first

Possible void if new processes dont fully cover all contingencies

System functions may not be used if not supported by correct

procedures

Ensure the customers are defining the process and

policy changes

Substantial change in processes may result in destructive behavior

Have one person responsible for all process and

policy changes

People may fear loss of jobs in a new organization

Create an aggressive communication plan to keep

customers engaged and informed

Use the new processes in a pilot project first to

ensure they are workable and correct

Include the successful implementation of new

policies and processes as part of the performance
criteria for managers

Be open to customer input on process changes

for better ideas and to allow them to feel they have
impact

Establish a formal approval process

Create a steering committee to represent the entire

stakeholder community

Keep the sponsor engaged and ready to intervene

in the various departments

Include representative from each organization in

requirements, quality assurance, and testing

Include opportunities for people from the various

departments to meet and interact

Work with the team on strict adherence to overall

project objectives and priorities

Use consensus-building techniques when at all

possible

F2. High number of functional disciplines are affected:

Coordination is more complex

Approvals can be more cumbersome and lengthy

More difficult to reach consensus

More people and groups to involve in planning and requirements

Harder to know the major stakeholders of the various departments

Implementation is harder and more complex

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

Risk Response Actions

G. Technology
G1 The project technology is new and unfamiliar (or new releases):
.

Learning curve may result in lower initial productivity

Provide as much training on the new technology as

practical, as early as possible

Train everyone who needs to install, use, or support

the new technology

May be integration problems between old and new technology

Resistance to technology changes may cause the project to be

delayed

Make arrangements to rely on vendor technical

specialists, when needed

May be difficulty testing the new technology

Technology may not be installed or configured correctly, which will

lead to project delays

Use outside consultants who are familiar with the

technology

New tools can lead to longer delivery times

Make sure there is an adequate test environment

where the technology can be utilized without
affecting production

New technology may require substantial conversion efforts

System performance may be poor while expertise is gained in

optimizing and configuring the technology

Ensure that solid analysis is completed regarding

the new technology functions, features, and
capabilities

Create procedures and standards for how the new

technology should be utilized

Create a pilot test or prototype to utilize the new

technology in a small way at first

G2 The technical requirements are new and complex:

May be difficult to understand the requirements and the implications

of design decisions

May be integration issues between old and new technology

May be difficulty testing the complex technology

The more complex the technology, the greater the risk that problems
will occur

Problems with incompatible technologies may not be uncovered until

integration or system testing

Utilize system and technical design documents to

clearly lay out how the technology fits together
Define the overall system technical architecture and
have it approved by knowledgeable people in your
company
Create a pilot project to utilize the new technology
in a small way at first
Try to substitute more proven and familiar
technology in the architecture

H. Performance
H1. Performance objectives are unclear or unstated or unrealistic (e.g.
everything will be perfect)

The project team may be bogged down trying to meet minor

performance objectives while the major ones are slipping away

The team may be subject to imposition of new performance

requirements during the project if they are not written down at the
start

This could be a no-win project since it is not possible to meet

unrealistic objectives

Make sure that all performance objectives are in

writing, agreed to by the project team and approved
by the Sponsor
Insist that any change in expectations regarding
performance objectives be issued as a formal
Change Request

Section II

Typical High-Risk Problems/Response Actions

High-Risk Factors/Potential Problems

I.

Risk Response Actions

Project Management

I1. Planning for this project is inconsistent, incomplete or in other

ways of poor quality AND/OR there are problems with project
process that must be addressed:

Follow the Organizations Project Management

Methodology

Complete the recommended project templates and

obtain approval from key stakeholders

Work on the project may be uncoordinated and unproductive

The project may be subject to Scope Creep

With poor or absent project plans it is unlikely that the project will
meet performance objectives

Address and correct any identified project process

issues

Follow and update the project plans throughout

project execution

Train A/E staff early in the process

J. A/E Firm
J1. A/E firm is new to this market:

Possibility that A/E firm may not survive and leave you with no
support

Make sure the A/E is a part of the project team

early in the process

Learning curve might delay start of project

No prior relationships from which to build a quick partnership

Maintain an A/E log to track problems with the

deliverables

Unfamiliar with CFLHD processes

Establish agreements with the A/E firm stipulating

support level and problem resolution times