Probability and impact Matrix A probability and impact matrix prioritizes the combination of probability and impact scores and helps you determine which risks need detailed risk response plans. For example, a risk event with a high probability of occurring and a high impact will likely need a response plan. This matrix is typically defined by the organization, but if you don’t have one, you’ll need to develop this now—during your planning meetings (a tool and technique of this process).
You’ll use this matrix in the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process,
Heldman, Kim. PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide : Updated for the 2015 Exam, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/gcu/detail.action?docID=4185201. Created from gcu on 2021-12-01 20:26:48. Copyright © 2015. John Wiley & Sons,
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Identifying Potential Risk 251
and I’ll talk more in depth about it in the section “Analyzing Risks Using Qualitative Techniques” later in this chapter. Again, you want to define (or modify) and document the probability and impact matrix in the risk management plan.
The key point about this process is that you’ll define what the probability and impact tools look like now during Plan Risk Management so that the team has an agreed-upon basis for evaluating the identified risks later during the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process.
To recap, the steps associated with these last few elements of the risk management plan are as follows:
1. Define the risk categories (these will assist the risk team in the Identify Risks process).
2. Determine how probability and impact will be defined (to be used in the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process).
3. Develop or modify the probability and impact matrix (to be used in the Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis process). Doing all these steps, together with the other elements of the risk management plan, gives you and the risk management team a common understanding for evaluating risks throughout the remainder of the project.
