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PMI-RMP Cheat Sheet

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Risk Strategy & Planning

  • 20-24% of exam
  • Appetite vs Threshold Risk Mgmt Plan RBS Register vs Report Reserve Types

Stakeholder Engagement

  • 18-22% of exam
  • Risk Attitude Risk Communication Owner vs Action Owner Reconcile Thresholds

Risk Process Facilitation

  • 23-27% of exam
  • Identification Tools Response Strategies Contingency vs Fallback Workaround

Risk Monitoring & Reporting

  • 17-21% of exam
  • Audit vs Review Reserve Analysis KRI vs Trigger Risk Closure

Specialized Risk Analyses

  • 12-16% of exam
  • Qualitative vs Quantitative EMV Decision Tree Monte Carlo Sensitivity

Quick Facts

  • Exam PMI-RMP
  • Credential Risk Mgmt Professional
  • Questions 115 (100 scored)
  • Time 150 min
  • Pass Pass/Fail scaled
  • Eligibility 24-36 mo + 30-40 hrs
  • Validity 3 yr / 60 PDU
  • Provider PMI / Pearson VUE

Reserve Types ST

  • Contingency=known | Management=unknown
  • Contingency: in baseline Management: outside baseline PM vs sponsor

Contingency vs Management Reserve ST

Contingency

  • Known risks
  • Inside baseline
  • PM controls

Management

  • Unknown risks
  • Outside baseline
  • Mgmt approval
  • Known-unknowns vs unknown-unknowns

Core Risk Terms ST

  • Risk Uncertain event/condition
  • Threat Negative-effect risk
  • Opportunity Positive-effect risk
  • Individual risk Single uncertain event
  • Overall risk Cumulative project exposure
  • Residual risk Leftover after response
  • Secondary risk New risk from response
  • Risk trigger Warning sign/symptom

Risk Register vs Risk Report ST

Register

  • Individual risks
  • Owner/response/status
  • Detail

Report

  • Overall risk
  • Big-picture exposure
  • Summary
  • Detail vs summary

Appetite & Thresholds ST

  • Risk appetite Strategic uncertainty accepted
  • Risk tolerance Acceptable variation band
  • Risk threshold Specific action trigger point
  • Risk attitude Stakeholder uncertainty stance
  • Risk capacity Risk org can absorb
  • Risk culture Shared risk behaviors

Planning Artifacts ST

  • Risk Mgmt Plan How risk is managed
  • Risk Register Individual risk detail
  • Risk Report Overall risk summary
  • RBS Risk sources hierarchy
  • Risk owner Accountable for monitoring
  • Action owner Executes response action
  • P-I definitions Rating scales agreed

Reserves & Baseline ST

  • Contingency reserve Known risks, in baseline
  • Management reserve Unknown risks, outside baseline
  • Cost baseline Estimates + contingency
  • Total budget Baseline + management reserve
  • Reserve sizing From EMV / simulation
  • PM authority Spends contingency only

Stakeholder Engagement ST

  • Risk attitude Appetite + tolerance + perception
  • Engage stakeholders Surface and own risks
  • Risk communication Timely exposure updates
  • Reconcile thresholds Align differing attitudes
  • Risk Report use Overall-risk communication vehicle
  • Buy-in Secure response support

Threat Responses FA

  • Every Angry Tiger Must Accept
  • Escalate Avoid Transfer Mitigate Accept

Residual vs Secondary Risk FA

Residual

  • Leftover risk
  • After response
  • What remains

Secondary

  • New risk
  • From the response
  • Side effect
  • Still left vs newly created

Which Response Strategy? FA

  • Threat outside authority → Escalate ( Program/portfolio )
  • Eliminate threat cause → Avoid ( Remove uncertainty )
  • Shift threat impact → Transfer ( Insurance/contract )
  • Reduce threat → Mitigate ( Lower prob/impact )
  • Accept minor threat → Accept ( Active reserve )
  • Opp outside authority → Escalate ( Program/portfolio )
  • Make opp certain → Exploit ( Guarantee upside )
  • Allocate opp to partner → Share ( Joint venture )
  • Boost opp → Enhance ( Raise prob/impact )

Identification Tools FA

  • Delphi Anonymous expert consensus
  • SWOT Strengths/weaknesses/opps/threats
  • Ishikawa Cause-and-effect fishbone
  • Assumption analysis Tests assumption validity
  • Prompt lists PESTLE/TECOP/VUCA categories
  • Brainstorming Group idea generation
  • Interviews Expert elicitation
  • Checklists Past-project risk lists

Opportunity Responses FA

  • Every Eager Shark Eats Anything
  • Escalate Exploit Share Enhance Accept

Threat vs Opportunity Response FA

Threat

  • Avoid
  • Transfer
  • Mitigate

Opportunity

  • Exploit
  • Share
  • Enhance
  • Both: Escalate + Accept

Threat Responses FA

  • Escalate Hand outside project authority
  • Avoid Eliminate the cause
  • Transfer Shift impact to third-party
  • Mitigate Reduce probability/impact
  • Accept No proactive action
  • Active accept Set contingency reserve
  • Passive accept Document, review only

Risk Process Flow FA

  • Plan -> ID -> Analyze -> Respond -> Monitor
  • Plan: methodology ID: find risks Analyze: prioritize Respond: strategies Monitor: track

Contingency vs Fallback Plan FA

Contingency

  • Plan A
  • On trigger
  • Pre-planned

Fallback

  • Plan B
  • If A fails
  • Held in reserve
  • First response vs backup

Opportunity Responses FA

  • Escalate Hand outside project authority
  • Exploit Make opportunity certain
  • Share Allocate to best partner
  • Enhance Increase probability/impact
  • Accept Take if it arises

Transfer vs Share FA

Transfer

  • Threat impact
  • Third party
  • Insurance/contract

Share

  • Opportunity
  • Best partner
  • Joint venture
  • Threat vs opportunity handoff

Response Plans FA

  • Contingency plan Plan A on trigger
  • Fallback plan Plan B if A fails
  • Workaround Unplanned response, improvised
  • Secondary risk Created by response
  • Residual risk Remains after response

Risk Audit vs Risk Review MO

Audit

  • Process effectiveness
  • Responses working?
  • Evaluates method

Review

  • Reassess risks
  • Close outdated
  • Find new
  • Process vs the risks

Which Monitoring Activity? MO

  • Check process works → Risk audit ( Effectiveness )
  • Reassess open risks → Risk review ( Close/find )
  • Reserves still enough? → Reserve analysis ( Reserve vs risk )
  • Trend signals exposure → KRI ( Leading metric )
  • Risk window passed → Risk closure ( Archive )

Monitoring Tools MO

  • Risk audit Evaluates process effectiveness
  • Risk review Reassess and close risks
  • Reserve analysis Reserve vs risk remaining
  • Reassessment Find new risks
  • Risk closure Risk can't occur
  • Variance/trend EVM forecasts exposure
  • KRI Leading exposure metric
  • Lessons learned Feeds future projects

EMV AN

  • EMV = Probability x Impact ($)
  • Threat: negative Opportunity: positive Sum across branch

Qualitative vs Quantitative AN

Qualitative

  • Subjective
  • Prioritize risks
  • Fast/always

Quantitative

  • Numeric
  • Overall outcome
  • Optional/heavy
  • Rank vs model in dollars

Which Analysis Technique? AN

  • Fast prioritization → Qualitative ( P-I matrix )
  • Rank by prob x impact → P-I matrix ( Subjective )
  • Numeric cost/schedule → Quantitative ( After qualitative )
  • Model overall outcome → Monte Carlo ( S-curve )
  • Compare decisions → Decision tree ( EMV branches )
  • Single-risk value → EMV ( P x impact )
  • Find key drivers → Sensitivity ( Tornado )
  • Estimate duration range → PERT ( 3-point )

Qualitative Tools AN

  • Qualitative analysis Subjective prioritization
  • P-I matrix Probability x impact grid
  • Risk score Probability x impact rating
  • Data quality Assess data reliability
  • Urgency Time before response
  • Proximity How soon risk hits
  • Detectability Ease of early warning
  • Categorization Group by source/cause

Quantitative Tools AN

  • Quantitative analysis Numeric overall outcomes
  • EMV Probability x impact value
  • Decision tree EMV across choices
  • Monte Carlo Iterative random simulation
  • S-curve Probability of target
  • Sensitivity Most-influential variables
  • Tornado diagram Ranks impact bars
  • PERT/3-point Optimistic-likely-pessimistic estimate

Key Formulas AN

  • EMV P x Impact ($)
  • Risk score Probability x Impact
  • Triangular mean (O + M + P) / 3
  • PERT/Beta mean (O + 4M + P) / 6
  • Threat EMV Negative sign
  • Opportunity EMV Positive sign
  • Cost baseline Work + contingency

Common Traps

Reserve type

  • Contingency = known-unknowns ≠ Management = unknown-unknowns

Residual vs secondary

  • Residual is leftover ≠ Secondary is new

Tolerance vs threshold

  • Tolerance is a band ≠ Threshold is a line

Transfer vs share

  • Transfer a threat ≠ Share an opportunity

Audit vs review

  • Audit the process ≠ Review the risks

Contingency vs fallback

  • Contingency on trigger ≠ Fallback if it fails

Register vs report

  • Register lists risks ≠ Report summarizes overall

Last Minute

  • 1. 115 questions, 100 scored, 150 minutes
  • 2. Threats: Escalate Avoid Transfer Mitigate Accept
  • 3. Opportunities: Escalate Exploit Share Enhance Accept
  • 4. Escalate + Accept apply to both
  • 5. Contingency = known risks, inside baseline
  • 6. Management reserve = unknown risks, outside baseline
  • 7. Residual = leftover; Secondary = new from response
  • 8. Tolerance = band; Threshold = trigger line
  • 9. EMV = Probability x Impact; threats negative
  • 10. PERT mean = (O + 4M + P) / 6
  • 11. Qualitative first, then quantitative
  • 12. Register = detail; Report = overall summary
  • 13. Contingency plan first; fallback as backup

PMI-RMP

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