Instructional design/WBT risks/Your Turn - Risk Prioritization

Instructional Design: Homepage > Identifying WBT Risks > Risky Business > Step 1: Identify > Your Turn - Risk Identification > Step 2: Prioritize > Your Turn - Risk Prioritization > Step 3: Mitigate > Your Turn - Risk Mitigation > The Risk Plan > Lesson Conclusion

The Risk Planning Meeting

For this next activity, imagine you are in the middle of a Risk Planning meeting for the same USDA Performance Management Project. You and your development team have already spent some time brainstorming potential risks and added them to the risk plan. You are now moving on to risk prioritization.

Risk	Probability	Impact	Priority	Actions
SME is not available when needed.
Course development software is buggy.
Final courseware does not function correctly in client’s LMS.
Final courseware does not pass Section 508 compliance testing.
Multimedia Developer is pulled onto another project.
Technical Lead has minimal project management experience.
Client does not provide ILT materials on time.

You (Technical Lead): Okay, we’ve identified a final set of project risks. Now, I’d like us to hone in on each risk and determine the likelihood of the risk occurring and its potential impact on the project.
James (Instructional Designer): I’m not worried about the first risk. The client said this is a high-priority project and that they would make sure the assigned subject matter expert has enough bandwidth to assist us.
You: And our client also said that she’s knowledgeable in the topic area and could serve as a second SME if necessary.
David (Multimedia Developer): I agree with all that, but I’m very concerned about the next three risks. There are a ton of unknowns here. We’ve never developed in Adobe Captivate, so there’ll be a learning curve and we don’t know how buggy the tool is. In addition, we’ve never developed courseware for the USDA’s learning management system. And Section 508 compliance is always a challenge.
Lisa (Graphic Designer): Right! While we have experience in Section 508 compliance, we’ve never developed accessible courseware for USDA. And I feel like each client interprets those standards a little differently.
David: Exactly! We really won’t know if our courseware is compliant until we test in the operating environment.
You: True, all these risks could impact our final deliverable. David, I’m concerned about you as well. You’re the only one who knows how to do audio recording and editing. If you get sick, leave the company, or get pulled onto another project, it will most certainly affect the schedule.
David: Well, I don’t plan to get sick or leave Pro Learning Force, but Bob (Pro Learning Force Training Director) mentioned that he assigned me as a full-time resource on the mobile learning proposal we just submitted.
You: I think the chances of us winning that work are slim, but we should still plan for the possibility.
James: There’s also the possibility that our fearless leader will get sick or leave the company.
You: James is right. This is my first time as Technical Lead and burnout is a risk we should consider. Also, I may make some serious rookie mistakes.
James: Oh, I doubt that. Plus, Bob will be there to answer any of your questions. And our team as a whole has plenty of development experience. I’m not too concerned about the last risk either.
Lisa: I agree with James. We know the ILT materials exist because USDA is already using them. There should be no delay in us receiving the materials.
You: Okay, we’ve had some good discussion, so let’s go ahead and prioritize these risks.

How Would You Rank These Risks?

Click here to open the Risk Planning Worksheet. You can either print the worksheet or create your own risk plan to complete this activity. Using the preliminary scope statement and what you gleaned from the meeting excerpt above, assign a probability and impact ranking to each risk listed on the worksheet. Then, calculate the priority of each risk by multiplying its probability by its impact. Once you have completed the Probability, Impact, and Priority columns, save your work.

Example risk:

Risk	Probability	Impact	Priority	Actions
SME is not available when needed.	1	1	1

Can You Justify Your Rankings?

Now share your lowest-priority risk and your highest-priority risk in the Wiki and provide a short justification for your rankings. To post your response, click “edit” for this section.

Example response: #1 is my lowest-priority risk because the probability is very unlikely (the SME has bandwidth) and the impact is very low (the client can always step in if the SME is unavailable). My highest-priority risk is… because…

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