Risk Scoring Overview

Risk scoring is part of the qualitative risk analysis process intended to identify, assess, and prioritize your project and program risks. Risk scores enable you to understand the severity of your risks, rank them in order of importance, and establish actions to reduce their potential effects. For more information on the qualitative risk analysis process, see Identify and Analyze Risks.

Risk scores are calculated based on the probability and impact values assigned to your risks. These values derive from the probability and impact thresholds that make up the risk matrix assigned to your project or program. The assigned risk matrix defines the possible scores that a risk can have. Before you can calculate risk scores, you must assign a risk matrix to your project or program.

After assigning values to your risks and generating risk scores, you can add response actions to your risk register. Response actions define methods to minimize the effects of your risks. You can also assign a new set of assessment values to your risks known as post-response values. Post-response values estimate the probability and impact of each risk based on the effectiveness of your response actions. Post-response values also generate post-response risk scores. If your risks require more specific pre-response or post-response values than what is offered by the assigned risk thresholds, you can override the threshold values and manually input your own values for a risk's probability and impact fields. You can view all of your risk response actions on the Response Actions page.

Qualitative risk analysis is supported by threat and opportunity type risks, but not weather risks. Because the potential impact of weather events can change depending on the time of year in which they occur, variable weather risk estimates cannot be represented using discrete risk matrix values. Weather risks do not support the assignment of pre-response or post-response schedule and impact values. However, you can still define response actions to describe possible methods to minimize the effects of weather on your project's schedule and costs.

Program risk scores are available at the program level. Project risk scores are available at the project and program levels. At the program level, the program risk matrix is applied to project risks, enabling you to compare risk scores from different projects using a consistent and normalized scale. For a more detailed description of project and program risk scoring calculations, see Understanding Project and Program Risk Scoring.