Presentations Risk Assessment & Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project manager is presenting a risk register to executives. Which element is MOST critical to include for each identified risk?
- Risk owner and mitigation plan (Correct answer)
- The name of the person who discovered the risk
- A list of all stakeholders affected
- Historical data from previous projects
Correct answer: Risk owner and mitigation plan
A risk register must include a risk owner accountable for monitoring the risk and a mitigation plan outlining the response strategy.
Question 2: During a presentation on supply chain risks, you display a heat map. What do the axes of a standard risk heat map represent?
- Probability and impact (Correct answer)
- Cost and time
- Stakeholder influence and urgency
- Frequency and detectability
Correct answer: Probability and impact
A risk heat map plots probability (likelihood of occurrence) on one axis and impact (severity of consequences) on the other.
Question 3: When presenting risk tolerance levels to a board, which term describes the maximum risk an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives?
- Risk appetite (Correct answer)
- Risk threshold
- Residual risk
- Inherent risk
Correct answer: Risk appetite
Risk appetite is the amount and type of risk an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its strategic objectives.
Question 4: A presenter is explaining Monte Carlo simulation to a non-technical audience. What is the PRIMARY purpose of this technique in risk management?
- To model probability distributions of outcomes under uncertainty (Correct answer)
- To assign dollar values to each identified risk
- To rank risks by their likelihood alone
- To track risks that have already occurred
Correct answer: To model probability distributions of outcomes under uncertainty
Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of scenarios to produce a probability distribution of possible outcomes, quantifying uncertainty.
Question 5: In a risk presentation, 'residual risk' refers to which of the following?
- Risk remaining after controls are applied (Correct answer)
- Risk identified but not yet assessed
- The highest-priority risk on the register
- Risk transferred to a third party
Correct answer: Risk remaining after controls are applied
Residual risk is the level of risk that remains after mitigation controls have been implemented.
Question 6: An analyst presenting a business continuity plan highlights RTO. What does RTO stand for, and why is it important?
- Recovery Time Objective — maximum tolerable downtime before operations must resume (Correct answer)
- Risk Transfer Option — method of shifting liability to insurers
- Residual Threat Outcome — remaining exposure after mitigation
- Response Tracking Order — sequence for addressing incidents
Correct answer: Recovery Time Objective — maximum tolerable downtime before operations must resume
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) defines the maximum acceptable length of time that a system can be offline after a disruption.
Question 7: When presenting a SWOT analysis as part of risk assessment, threats and weaknesses are typically mapped to which phase?
- Risk identification (Correct answer)
- Risk response planning
- Risk monitoring
- Risk quantification
Correct answer: Risk identification
In SWOT, threats (external) and weaknesses (internal) surface potential risks and feed directly into the risk identification phase.
Presentations Risk Assessment & Management 2
A project manager is presenting a risk register to executives.
Which element is MOST critical to include for each identified risk?