Project Charter Risk Evaluator

Project risk assessment is a proactive process that can help you identify and manage project risks before they occur. This simple questionnaire covers 25 major risk factors that may be found in a typical Information Technology project. Please answer all questions truthfully. If you are not certain of the answer [for example, you have not yet chosen which technology to use] use the worst case scenario for that question. When you have completed all 25 questions, print the page and then click the button to receive your project risk evaluation.

Product/Project Scope

Question 1.
The Deliverables of the project are:
Well defined and understood
Somewhat defined but subject to change
Poorly defined and/or likely to change

Question 2.
The business objectives of the project are:
Understood, straightforward and defined
Understood but very complex OR straightforward but not well defined
Very vague, very complex or not defined

Question 3.
The overall complexity of the project is:
Low
Medium
High

Schedule and Budget

Question 4.
The project's major milestone dates (e.g. Delivery date) are:
Flexible - may be established by the project team and end users
Firm - pre-established; missed dates may affect the business
Fixed - Mandated; missed delivery will have severe consequences

Question 5.
Project duration is estimated at:
Less than 3 months
3 to 12 months
Greater than 12 months

Human Resources

Question 6.
The Project Manager's experience and training in Project Management are:
Recent success in similar projects
Recent success in dissimilar projects OR trained and some actual experience
No recent training or experience
Project Manager is not identified

Question 7.
The Business Department staff who will work on this project have:
Extensive Information Technology (IT) project experience (5+)
Some IT project experience (1 to 3)
No IT project experience
The project staff have not been identified

Question 8.
Projected total number of Information Services and Business Department staff on the project team is:
1 - 4
5 - 10
over 10

Question 9.
The project's knowledge experts are:
Committed to a full definition of Project Requirements
Anxious to limit time spent in Requirements gathering
Unavailable or unwilling to participate
Not identified or lack experience

Question 10.
The project sponsor is:
Identified, committed and enthusiastic
Identified but not enthusiastic
Not identified or not involved

Question 11.
Information Services experience with hardware/software or technology to be used in this project is:
Extensive
Some experience
Minor or none

Business and Organizational impact

Question 12.
The political environment:
Supports the project or will have no impact
Has no immediate impact but is volatile and must be monitored
Will make it difficult for the team to carry out the project

Question 13.
Business processes, policies and procedures will require:
Little or no change
Occasional or minor changes
Substantial change

Question 14.
Organizational change imposed by this project:
Is requested and eagerly anticipated by the end-users
Is seen by end-users as neither good nor bad
Leaves end-users passive, disengaged and/or hostile

Question 15.
The number of critical stakeholders is:
1 to 2
3 to 10
More than 10

Question 16.
The number of departments affected by this project is:
1 to 2
3 to 4
More than 5

Technology and Performance

Question 17.
The technology to be used is:
Mature
New to Information Services but proven in the marketplace
Leading edge

Question 18.
The technical requirements are:
Simple or similar to another successful project
Medium complexity
New and Complex

Question 19.
The Organization's experience with similar projects has been:
Success
Completion with difficulty
Failure
Not applicable

Question 20.
Interfaces to other systems/services/products are:
Simple
Average
Complex

Question 21.
If a Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) implementation:
No (or minimal) customization is needed
Moderate customization is needed
Extensive customization is required

Question 22.
If a COTS implementation:
The product or release is stable with large customer base
The product or release is stable but has a limited customer base
The product or release is new to the market

Question 23.
Project performance objectives (e.g. budget; schedule) are:
Well described and reasonable
Well described, reasonable but no room for error or mishap
Unclear, unstated or unrealistic

Question 24.
This project's external dependencies could best be described as:
Slightly dependent; can be successful without deliverables from external source
Somewhat dependent; without deliverables delays can occur
Highly dependent; cannot proceed without external deliverables

Question 25.
Use of contractors:
None required
Contractors account for less than 50% of project effort, and are committed by start of project
Contractors account for more than 50% of project effort, OR they will not be committed by start of project
Unknown

Please print this page BEFORE clicking this button

Please ensure that you filled out all 25 questions.