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Project risk assessment template

Managing risks is essential for project success, whether you’re handling large-scale construction, complex IT implementations, or projects spread across multiple locations. This project risk assessment template lets you pinpoint risks, gauge their likelihood and impact, assign responsible team members, and follow through on mitigation steps, all in a clear, actionable format.

IBM’s global survey found that 44% of projects fall short on time, budget, or quality goals. By documenting risks early and revisiting them throughout your project, you can avoid surprises and keep critical initiatives on track. For other scenarios, check out our construction risk assessment template, vendor risk assessment template, or dynamic risk assessment template.

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Project Risk Assessment

Project Name

Project Manager

Project Assistant

1. Resouce Risks

1.1 Organisational Risk

Is the project organization documented and on file?

Is the project manager qualified and experienced in project management of this scale?

Have roles and responsibilities been documented?

Have roles and responsibilities been clearly communicated?

Is the organization structure appropriate for the project size and complexity?

Is there an obvious team leader?

Is the quality role identified and assigned?

Is the project sponsor identified and assigned?

Is there a change control board?

Have configurations management functions been assigned?

Are there backup strategies for key members of the project?

1.2 People Risk

Are there enough skilled and experienced employees/vendors/contractors available for the project?

Has the project team a track record of delivering projects on time, quality and budget?

Do the project team feel as if the project is achievable given constraints in place?

Are prospects/customers involved in periodic reviews of the project through its development?

Is there sufficient contingency access to subject matter experts throughout each stage of the project?

1.3 Finance Risk

Is funding adequate and sufficient for the size of the project?

Has any funding been assigned to training and mentoring activities?

Are there predefined budget limitations that would result in project termination?

Are project costs realistic given the size, complexity and scale?

1.4 Schedule Risk

Is the project schedule realistic?

Have dependencies been fully understood, communicated and documented?

Has a critical path been defined?

Have milestones and associated reviews been agreed and planned into program schedule?

Has “Project Terminated” criteria been discussed, agreed and documented in relation to each key milestone?

2. Business Risk

Identified potential risks of a competitor entering the market first?

Assess the risk to project funding and management support?

Have financial benefits of the project relative to costs been defined, demonstrated, agreed upon, and documented?

Are there any major issues to be resolved in the company at the moment?

3. Technical Risk

Scope risks

Technological Risks

4. Planning

Is project scope the same as agreed in the project charter?

Has the project scope statement been reviewed and approved?

Is there a project plan to measure progress?

Does the project plan address at a minimum:

Project scope and deliverables

Work breakdown structure

Task dependencies

Project schedule

Milestone schedule

Project budget

Quality plan

Issue resolution and change management

Risk management plan

Does the project plan address at an advanced level:

Critical success factors

Resource plan – assignment and timings

Cost-benefit analysis

Procurement plan

Communication plan

Configuration management plan

Phase exit plan

Project tracking agreement

Project organisation

Facilities plan

Documentation plan

Materials plan

Training plan

Back-up and recovery plan

Contingency plan

Go live plan

Warranty plan

Transition plan

Is plan for project resources adequate?

Are baseline project schedule and budget realistic?

Is the plan for the organisation of resources adequate?

Are there adequate project control systems?

Is there a central storage for project documentation?

Are key stakeholders bought into the project plan?

Are potential customers involved in the planning process?

Was planning complete before the project was initiated?

Are documents subject to revision control?

Have vendors signed off on the project plan?

Has an independent oversight contractor signed off on the project plan?

5. Tracking and Monitoring

Are the report contents, frequency, and audience defined and communicated to the project team?

Are the input requirements from the project team clearly documented and communicated?

Have reports to be produced, distributed, and filed been defined?

Has the format for tracking and monitoring schedules and costs been defined?

6. Reviewing

Have meetings, purpose, context, frequency, and participants been defined?

What information is required for each meeting?

Are meetings set-up with assigned note-takers to add actions/issues?

7. Issue Management

Is the issue management process documented and defined?

Has this process been communicated to customers and team members?

Is there an easy way for anyone to raise an issue?

Is there a means of tracking and managing issues through to resolution?

Is there a means of learning from issues raised to minimize future issues?

Is there an escalation process to address unresolved issues?

8. Change Control

Is there a change control process in place?

Is the change control process documented and available to the team?

Has the process been discussed and shared with the customer and project team?

Has the change request process been discussed and communicated with customers and project team?

Is all change to be managed through a change control process?

How are change requests logged, managed, assessed and actioned?

9. Dispute Resolution

Has the negotiation process been defined?

Has the mediation process been defined?

Has the arbitration process been agreed upon and defined?

Has the litigation process and boundaries been defined?

10. Risk Management

Are all risks managed according to the project's risk management process?

Will the risk plan be reviewed and updated regularly and frequently?

Will risk status be reported to management on a regular and frequent basis?

Are there documented contingencies for the top 5 risks?

Have the contingencies for the top 5 risks been discussed with the customer and project team?

11. Quality Assurance

Has the quality assurance plan been documented and filed?

Are the QA functions and related roles and responsibilities clearly defined?

Are completion/verification criteria defined for each task producing an output?

Are there test plans, inspections, reviews defined for verifying outputs to each task?

Will QA have final sign-off on tasks successfully completed?

Is there a formal system to manage submitting, logging, tracking, reporting through the change, test, submit, restest process?

Is there a process that allows QA statistics to be collated, assessed with any subsequent issues logged and addressed?

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Frequently asked questions

What steps should you include in an effective project risk assessment process?

An effective process includes: risk identification, risk analysis (evaluating likelihood and impact), prioritization, assigning ownership, planning responses, monitoring, and reviewing regularly. Including lessons learned from previous projects can make this process more robust and help prevent repeat issues.

Where do most organizations struggle with project risk assessment?

Many organizations struggle with consistent documentation, lack of real-time communication, and unclear ownership of mitigation actions. Distributed teams or projects with changing requirements often find it challenging to keep everyone aligned and informed about evolving risks.

How do you measure the effectiveness of project risk management efforts?

You can track key indicators like the number of risks detected early, the speed of mitigation, reduced project delays, and fewer budget overruns. Feedback from stakeholders and post-project reviews are also valuable for understanding how well risks were managed.

What are some examples of effective project risk mitigation strategies?

Effective strategies include developing contingency plans, reallocating resources, adopting new technologies, increasing team training, or transferring certain risks through insurance or contracts. The right approach depends on your project’s unique risk landscape and priorities.

This template, developed by Lumiform employees, serves as a starting point for businesses using the Lumiform platform and is intended as a hypothetical example only. It does not replace professional advice. Companies should consult qualified professionals to assess the suitability and legality of using this template in their specific workplace or jurisdiction. Lumiform is not liable for any errors or omissions in this template or for any actions taken based on its content.