PMP lesson · Risk · Risk management · lesson 3 of 3 · about 9 minutes

Risk responses: threats, opportunities and escalation

All approaches (predictive, agile, hybrid)Free preview

Goal: After this lesson you can name the right response strategy from a short description, and explain contingent responses, workarounds, residual and secondary risks.

1The situation

Five risks, five different answers

The robot cell risk register now has a prioritised list. Each risk needs a strategy.

For the new gripper design, the team could simply use the proven one. For the price of servo motors, a fixed-price contract could move the problem to the supplier. For the vision system, an early pilot test could reduce the chance of failure. And one risk, a company-wide platform decision, is not yours to decide at all.

Each of these is a different response strategy, and the exam expects you to recognise them from a single sentence.

2Five answers to every risk

For threats and for opportunities there are five strategies each. Learn them in pairs:

Threat	Opposite for opportunity	Shared idea
Avoid	Exploit	Make it impossible / make it certain
Mitigate	Enhance	Reduce / increase probability or impact
Transfer	Share	Give to a third party better placed
Accept	Accept	Do nothing now (or keep a reserve)
Escalate	Escalate	Outside the project's authority → right owner

Key words: “eliminate”, “change the plan” → avoid · “reduce” → mitigate · “contract, insurance” → transfer · “make sure it happens” → exploit · “outside the PM's authority” → escalate.

3All the strategies in one table

Threats (negative)	What it does	Robot cell example
Escalate	Outside the PM's authority or the project's scope → hand to the right owner	Corporate decision on a new robot platform standard
Avoid	Change the plan so the threat cannot happen	Use the proven gripper instead of the new design
Transfer	Move the impact to a third party (usually at a cost)	Fixed-price contract, insurance, warranty
Mitigate	Reduce the probability or impact	Early pilot test of the vision system
Accept	Do nothing now (passive) or keep a reserve (active)	Small risks on the watch list; contingency reserve
Opportunities (positive)	What it does	Robot cell example
Escalate	Opportunity bigger than the project → hand to the right owner	Offering the same cell to another plant
Exploit	Make sure the opportunity definitely happens	Lock in the supplier who can deliver early
Share	Give it to a partner better able to capture it	Joint venture with a vision specialist
Enhance	Increase its probability or impact	Add a second shift to finish earlier
Accept	Take it if it comes, no active effort	Lower steel prices next quarter

Five strategies for threats, five for opportunities. Escalate and accept appear in both lists.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. A team identifies that a new, untested welding process could cause significant quality problems. The project manager decides to use the organisation's established welding process instead, which eliminates the threat completely while adding a small cost. Which risk response strategy is being used?

A. Mitigate

B. Avoid

C. Transfer

D. Accept

Show the answer and the decode

Answer: B.

In simple English

The team changes the plan so the risky process is not used at all.

What is the question really asking?

The name of the strategy.

Key words / trigger

“eliminates the threat completely”

PMP logic

Changing the plan so the threat cannot occur is avoidance.

Why the wrong answer looks attractive

Mitigate sounds close, but mitigate only reduces the risk; here it is eliminated.

5Remember this

Your memory card

Threats: escalate, avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept
Opportunities: escalate, exploit, share, enhance, accept
Gone = avoid · moved = transfer · smaller = mitigate · certain = exploit · not ours = escalate
Planned + trigger → contingent response · unplanned → workaround · watch residual and secondary risks

The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:

the rest of the lesson (Escalate: the newest strategy, After the response)
a worked example
the common traps (wrong vs right)
2 exam-style questions with the decode
a 3-question quick check

Open the full lesson → Create a free account

← Risk analysis: probability, impact and EMV Next: Contract types and who carries the risk →