Risk Governance

The Risk Governance is the smallest domain in terms of the number of questions it contributes to the final RMP Exam but, it is one of the most important areas that can have far-fetched impact on all aspects of Risk Management in your Project. So, we need to concentrate on this domain as well in order to be better project managers. The exam objectives of this domain are:

a. Document Lessons Learned
b. Refine Risk Policies & Practices
c. Create the Risk Management Plan
d. Establish metrics for the Risk Management Processes
e. Examine Process Performance
f. Monitor Risk Performance
g. Identify Relevant Policies & Standards

Unlike the other domains where the no. of objectives are less, this domain actually has multiple exam objectives that are pretty complicated. This domain has a heavy presence during the early stages and towards the final stages of the Risk Management cycle. The other domains are not like this. They have specific time-lines in the Risk Management Cycle as to when they will be used. Creating the Risk Management Plan and Evaluating & Monitoring Risk Performance are two important aspects of Risk Management that fall under this domain. Similarly the activities that happen during the end stages like documenting and archiving lessons learned are also part of this domain.

The main idea behind this risk governance domain is to create/establish Standards and Policies in your Project/Organization in order to facilitate effective Risk Management. Establishing good policies & standards are aimed at continuously improving the processes used in the project. The policies and standards established in this domain are used during all activities of Risk Management. Suppose the performance of the response to a risk is not up to par, we can implement corrective action based on the guidelines & standards established in this domain.

The Areas of Risk Management that fall under this Risk Governance Domain are:

a. Creating the Risk Management Plan
b. Creating the Framework for the Risk Management Processes
c. How to Document & Archive Lessons Learned
d. Creating Risk Policies & Processes
e. Continual Process Improvements
f. Evaluate Performance Against Baselines
g. Interpreting Metrics
h. Conflict Management &
i. Result Measurement

We have successfully covered in brief the Risk Management Framework and its four pillars or domains. So, it is now time to dive head first into each of these domains one by one to reach their true depths!!!

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Next: What is Project Risk?

The Risk Management Framework

In the previous section, we learnt about the basic details about the PMI Risk Management Professional certification. This is going to be the first actual chapter in our study plan for this PMI RMP certification exam.

Overview of the Risk Management Framework

The Project Management Institute suggests a Framework that is tried & tested and widely used to manage project risks. It is extremely important to understand the basics of this Risk Management Framework.

There are 4 key domains in this Risk Management Framework. They are:

1. Risk Communication
2. Risk Analysis
3. Risk Response Planning &
4. Risk Governance

Our study plan will be revolving around each of these 4 domains of the Risk Management Framework. Before we go any further into these individual domains, let us now look at the basic details related to these domains and also look at the Exam Objectives that we need to focus on for the PMI RMP Exam.

Risk Communication

The Risk Communication domain deals with how effectively we can communicate about risk related events with all the Project Stakeholders. Risk Communication plays a key role in the overall Risk Management strategy because, as the Project Manager, it is our foremost priority to keep all stakeholders apprised of the Situation in the Project. They key exam objectives of this domain are:

a. Apply Interpersonal Skills
b. Assess Stakeholder Risk Tolerance
c. Document Risk Related Information &
d. Create Regular Status Reports

Risk Analysis

The Risk Analysis domain is by-far the most critical domain of the Risk Management Framework in terms of the impact it can have on the overall Risk Management Strategy in the Project. This is because, unless you can analyze risks properly you cannot plan effectively plan how to handle them and eventually result in project delays and losses. The key exam objectives of this domain are:

a. Identify Risks
b. Evaluate Risks using Quantitative & Qualitative Risk Analysis
c. Prioritize Risks
d. Establish Control Limits

Risk Response Planning

The Risk Response Planning domain too is a very critical domain of the Risk Management Framework because, this is where we actually create plans on how we are going to handle the risk events if they occur. Unless our response is appropriate, the risk will cause project delays and losses. The key exam objectives of this domain are:

a. Develop a Risk Response Strategy
b. Develop a Contingency Approach & Plan
c. Present the Recommendations to Key Stakeholders

Risk Governance

The Risk Governance domain sets up baselines & standards that you wish your project to follow. This is where we actually handle the risk events when they occur. We also take necessary steps to improve our process to ensure that the chances of risk events occurring are kept to the minimum. The key exam objectives of this domain are:

a. Document Lessons Learned
b. Refine Risk Policies & Practices
c. Create the Risk Management Plan
d. Establish metrics for the Risk Management Processes
e. Examine Process Performance
f. Monitor Risk Performance
g. Identify Relevant Policies & Standards

If all this information seems overwhelming to you, just relax and go through the chapter once more. This is just the first chapter. We still have a very long way to go where we will be covering each of these areas in detail…

Prev: Study Plan for the RMP Certification

Next: Risk Communication