The Risk Management Plan describes how you will define and manage risk on the project. This document does not actually describe the risks and the responses. This document defines the process and techniques you will use to define the risks and the responses. The information in this plan includes:

• Roles and responsibilities. This section describes the leading and supporting roles in the risk management process. The project manager typically has overall responsibility for risk management, unless the team is large enough that this role can be delegated to another team member – perhaps a specialist. Third-party risk management teams may also be able to perform more independent, unbiased risk analyses of project than those from the sponsoring project team.
• Budgeting. Discuss your budget for risk management for the project. Since you may not know enough to request budget for risk management you can also describe the process that you will use to determine a risk management budget estimate.
• Timing. Defines when the initial risk assessment will be performed, as well as how often the risk management process will be conducted throughout the project life cycle. Results should be developed early enough to affect decisions.
• Scoring and interpretation. You should define risk scoring and interpretation methods appropriate for the type of the qualitative and quantitative risk analysis being performed. Methods and scoring must be determined in advance to ensure consistency.
• Thresholds. The threshold level is how you determine which risks are important enough to act upon.  The project manager, client, and sponsor may have a different risk threshold. The acceptable threshold forms the target against which the project team will analyze risks.
• Communication. Describe how the information on risk will be documented and communicated. This includes the risks themselves, the risk responses and the risk status.
• Tracking and Auditing. Document how all facets of risk activities will be recorded for the benefit of the current project, future needs, and lessons learned. Also describe if and how risk processes will be audited.

Other sections can be added to the Risk Management Plan as needed.

One of the frustrating parts of being a project manager is that it can be difficult to manage the project when you have no formal management authority over the members of your team. From an organizational perspective, if the people do not report to you as a functional manager, then you are probably operating in some type of matrix structure. The matrix makes the most efficient use of people resources, but it can also be very challenging on the part of project managers.

How do you hold team members accountable for their deadlines without this authority?

Proactively Manage Project Resources Without Authority

If team members are missing their deadlines you must first try to determine the cause. For example, if it is due to a lack of skills, this should be addressed through training or replacement resources. If it is because they do not fully understand the expectations you have, then you may have some changes to make as well.

Although the team members do not report to you functionally, their work on the project should still be input into their overall performance review.  You can try to hold people accountable by making sure they understand that you will be providing performance feedback into their review. This should also be reiterated and agreed to by the functional managers

From a process management side, there are project management techniques and processes that should be utilized. First of all, if the availability and performance of the team is in doubt, you should raise this early as a project risk. As part of risk management, you need to put a proactive plan in place to make sure that this risk is addressed. When people miss their deadlines and your deadline is in jeopardy, you may need to raise an issue and perform issues management. During issues management, you again look for the cause of the problem and try to resolve it.

In addition, make sure your team members are communicating proactively with you. In many cases, it is not the fact that people miss their deadlines that gets you frustrated; it is that the team member does not tell you ahead of time. If the team member communicates proactively, you can see the problem beforehand while you still some ability to help. If he just misses the date and does not communicate, then he is not managing expectations as should be done. By the same token, the project manager needs to communicate proactively as well. Communicate well with your team and make sure they understand dates and expectations. Also communicate proactively with the functional managers and make sure they know when there are resource sharing issues or people performance issues.

Matrix management involves a complex and delicate balancing act between project managers and people managers. The project manager usually has limited people management authority in these situations. Even so, it is possible to complete your projects successfully. There are many project management processes and techniques that can help. Utilize them to raise risks and issues when needed. Also, make sure you utilize the project sponsor. The sponsor can help you generate urgency and focus, and can also have an impact on the functional managers to make sure that you have the resources you need to be successful.

The use of a risk management worksheet is similar to that of a risk management plan, but for big projects, they will have a limit of effectiveness. This is because of the size and number of the risks involved that could impact the larger business ventures.

You can use the risk management worksheet as an accompaniment to your risk management plan. It would be like a cheat sheet of sorts. To be effective you will have to list all of the possible risks you already placed in your risk plan. Not only will the names and nature of the risks that could impact your project be listed on this worksheet, but also the paths for mitigation. This will allow for an even faster response to the risks damage when they impact your project.

Not all of the information in your risk management plan needs to be listed on the risk management worksheet. Some of the items in the plan can be eliminated. The leading ones are the risks that have already been mitigated before the project enters its execution phase of its project lifecycle. The mitigation can be from someone in your project team or an outside source. The only ones that will fall into this category will be the risks that need no action taken if and when they impact your project.

One of the most important components of the risk plan that should be on the risk management worksheet is the contacts for the third party vendors who are the alternates for supplying your raw materials. The risk that makes an impact could be as simple as a vendor not meeting your schedule. To keep your project going, you will need to fill in this gap of supplies with another party. The sooner you contact them, the faster you will be receiving the raw materials you need for your deliverable.

The risk management worksheet is just another handy little tool the project manager can use to keep their business venture progressing towards a successful conclusion. Like all tools, the proper use of it and acting fast will make all the difference in just how effective it really is.