Risk will be a factor in any project, and the Prince2 component sets out the principles of management of risk, aligning best practice to the roles of project board, project manager and others within the project management team. The principles described in the Prince2 component are also very much aligned with the latest Office of Government Commerce guidance on Management of Risk.
A typical management approach is advocated, based on two activity groups of Risk Analysis and Risk Management.
Responsibilities for risk in Prince2 are clearly defined:
- The project manager is responsible for ensuring that risks are identified, recorded and regularly reviewed
- The project board is responsible for
Notifying the project manager of external risk exposure to the project
Making decisions on the project manager's recommended responses to risk
Balancing the overall project risk and benefit levels
Ensuring the business is aware of risk exposure that may threaten business objectives.
Prince2 emphasises that management of risk is a full lifecycle activity, but nevertheless defines specific points in the Prince2 process model at which the subject needs to be explicitly looked at.
