Risk Analysis and Mitigation Memo

Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a risk analysis and mitigation memo.
We all work on projects whether at work, at school, or around the house. Some projects are small and can be completed quickly; however, some take time,
planning, and preparation. How can you make sure that a project is completed once it is started? How do projects in information technology really run behind
the scenes? Project management provides a structured method to move through a project from the time it is created until the time it is completed and all the
steps in between.
In this project, imagine that you are team member for an IT development project. Your team has identified several risks the project faces that could negatively
impact its outcome. You have been tasked with selecting one of those risks and analyzing it in order to determine the best solution to mitigate the risk and
determine how your solution will affect the overall project. You will write a professional email memo to your project manager, with supporting documentation
as attachments. The email will explain your analysis, recommendations, and the impact of those recommendations. Your thorough analysis is critical to the
project manager to help him or her make an informed decision about how to move the project forward. Use this reference as an example, to assist you with
writing a business memo.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
 Explain the relationship between an information technology project’s scope, budget, and schedule to determine how they impact one another
 Develop industry-appropriate messaging for communicating an information technology project’s status and needs to project stakeholders
 Determine key information-technology considerations for informing project risk-management response strategies
 Examine project management documents for key project data to promote successful information technology projects through development, testing, and
production
Prompt
Your email memo and attachments should be drafted in a Word document with the project charter, RACI chart, and Gantt charts included in an appendix. In
your memo, you will describe background information about the project that you are working on, detail information about a specific project risk, and propose a
recommended risk mitigation strategy to your leadership team.
Your memo will make use of the following project scenario:
Regatta University is a leader in both traditional education and career-path development, including in emerging fields. The university prides itself on staying on
the leading edge of curriculum and degree programs, learning methodologies and instructional technologies, student services, and demonstrated student
success. “The future is here and now,” the university’s president, Martha Yoon, likes to say.
Regatta serves approximately 8,000 students at locations including the original campus in Augusta, Maine, and satellite campuses in Ventura, California; Dayton,
Ohio; and Hilo, Hawaii. In a typical term, approximately 40% of Regatta’s students take courses at a distance through the university’s online education hub.
Enrollment growth has been strong, increasing by 4 to 8% each year for the last decade.
You are a key member of the information technology team at Regatta, with a core specialization in student services. You are responsible for providing userfriendly interfaces connecting to a flexible, powerful information structure. Now you have a new project—working with colleagues to create a student degree
progress tool that students will use for accurate, instant information on their progress toward program and degree completion. As you may imagine, this tool is
eagerly awaited by a variety of stakeholders, including Regatta academic advisors and the Office of Enrollment Management, as tracking and communicating
student progress toward degree completion is vital for retention. “We need a tool that will be easy to use but also accurate. No misinformation!” your team
manager says.
Your memo will analyze and recommend mitigation strategies for one project risk. The risk you choose to focus on must come from the list of project risks in
the provided Project Management Documents Excel worksheet. They are located in the tab titled Risk Matrix.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed in your memo:
I. Introduction: Using the Student Degree Progress Project Charter document, the RACI chart in the Project Management Documents workbook, and the
Gantt Chart document as guides, provide background information on the project you are working on.
A. Describe the purpose of the project and the end objective, including where this information is documented.
B. Identify the key stakeholders involved in the project, including an explanation of their roles and responsibilities.
C. Describe your own role and responsibilities on the project team, citing specific information from the project’s Gantt chart.
D. Explain the triple constraint relationship between the project’s scope, schedule, and budget. Support your response with examples from the
project materials and your experience in adding the new element to your project during Milestone Two.
II. Project Risk: Select a risk from the list in the Project Management Documents workbook. Using these project management documents as guides,
provide detailed information about the specific project risk.
A. Explain why this risk requires attention. Support your response with examples from the project management documents.
B. Describe any dependencies within the project that may be affected by this risk. Provide specific examples from the project management
documentation to support your response.
C. Explain the implications for the project within the context of the triple constraint if this risk is not addressed.
III. Risk Mitigation: Using all available project documents as guides, recommend a risk mitigation strategy.
A. Explain the steps that need to be taken in order to mitigate the identified risk.
B. Explain in detail how the proposed mitigation strategy will affect the project. Include any tradeoffs that must be made to accommodate the
mitigation strategy, and consider the triple constraint and any other variables that you deem important.
C. Defend why your proposed mitigation strategy is the best course of action for the project team.
IV. Conclusion: Summarize the project needs in your project risk and mitigation proposal for your stakeholders. What are the most important pieces of
information to take away?
V. Communication: Your risk mitigation email memo attachments will be evaluated based on the following elements:
A. Develop email communication in a clear and professional way, using language appropriate for the audience of stakeholders.
B. Attach supporting documentation to aid in the communication of your mitigation strategy.
Milestones
Milestone One: Introduction, Stakeholders, and Roles
In Module Two, you will compose a brief project description that summarizes the student degree progress project, including its purposes, objectives, and how
and where to find further information about it. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Your Role and the Triple Constraint
In Module Three, you will take on one of the three technical roles on the project team. Using the Gantt chart, you will first describe the work assigned to your
role. You will also list work performed by others that must be done prior to the tasks assigned to your role. In this milestone, you will also consider the
implications for the project restraints with the addition of a new project component that you will create. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two
Rubric.
Milestone Three: Project Risk and Mitigation
In Module Five, you will draft two key sections of your final project. In this milestone, you will identify and describe a project risk from the list of risks included in
the Project Management Document Excel workbook, then you will recommend risk mitigation strategies. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone
Three Rubric.
Final Submission: Risk Analysis and Mitigation Memo
In Module Seven, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should
reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading
One Introduction, Stakeholders, and Roles 2 Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two Your Role and the Triple Constraint 3 Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three Project Risk and Mitigation 5 Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Final Submission: Risk Analysis and
Mitigation Memo
7 Graded separately; Final Project Rubric
Final Project Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your email memo and attachments should be 2 to 4 pages in length with double spacing, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New
Roman font, and adherence to the latest edition of APA formatting.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Introduction:
Purpose
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates an
advanced ability to extract
accurate information from
project documentation
Describes the purpose of the
project and the end objective,
including where this information
is documented
Describes the purpose of the
project and the end objective,
but description is cursory,
contains inaccuracies, or does
not include where this
information is documented
Does not describe the purpose of
the project and the end objective
6
Introduction:
Stakeholders
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of the
roles and responsibilities of each
stakeholder within the project
team
Identifies the key stakeholders
involved in the project, including
an explanation of their roles and
responsibilities
Identifies the key stakeholders
involved in the project, but
explanation is cursory, contains
inaccuracies, or does not include
stakeholders’ roles and
responsibilities
Does not identify the key
stakeholders involved in the
project
6
Introduction:
Role and
Responsibilities
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
cited information is especially
well-suited for supporting the
description of own role and
responsibilities within the project
team
Describes own role and
responsibilities on the project
team, citing specific information
from the project’s Gantt chart
Describes own role and
responsibilities on the project
team, but description is cursory,
contains inaccuracies, or lacks
specific reference to the project’s
Gantt chart
Does not describe own role and
responsibilities on the project
team or cite specific information
from the project’s Gantt chart
6
Introduction:
Triple Constraint
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
complex grasp of the implications
of the triple constraint
relationship on the project
Explains the triple constraint
relationship between the
project’s scope, schedule, and
budget, supporting response
with examples from the project
materials and experience in this
course
Explains the triple constraint
relationship between the
project’s scope, schedule, and
budget, but explanation is
illogical, contains inaccuracies, or
is not supported by examples
from the project materials and
experience in this course
Does not explain the triple
constraint relationship between
the project’s scope, schedule,
and budget
8
Project Risk:
Requires
Attention
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
complex grasp of the project
needs
Identifies risk and explains why
the risk requires attention,
supporting response with
examples from project
management documents
Identifies risk and explains why
the risk requires attention, but
explanation is illogical, contains
inaccuracies, or does not include
example from project
management documents
Does not identify risk and explain
why the risk requires attention
8
Project Risk:
Dependencies
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates a
complex grasp of the
dependencies within a project
Describes any dependencies
within the project that may be
affected by the risk, including
support from project
management documentation
Describes any dependencies
within the project that may be
affected by the risk, but
description is illogical, contains
inaccuracies, or does not include
support from project
management documentation
Does not describe dependencies
within the project that may be
affected by the risk
6
Project Risk:
Implications
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of
possible risk results
Explains within the context of the
triple constraint the implications
for the project if the risk is not
addressed
Explains the implications for the
project if the risk is not
addressed, but explanation is
illogical or cursory or is not
within the context of the triple
constraint
Does not explain the implications
for the project if the risk is not
addressed
8
Risk Mitigation:
Mitigate
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of steps
needed to mitigate the identified
risk
Explains the steps that need to
be taken in order to mitigate the
identified risk
Explains the steps that need to
be taken in order to mitigate the
identified risk, but explanation is
illogical, cursory, or contains
inaccuracies
Does not explain the steps that
need to be taken in order to
mitigate the identified risk
8
Risk Mitigation:
Affect
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation makes cogent
connections between important
project variables and the
proposed risk mitigation strategy
Explains in detail how the
proposed mitigation strategy will
affect the project, considering
the triple constraint and any
other variables deemed
important including any tradeoffs
that must be made to
accommodate the mitigation
strategy
Explains how the proposed
mitigation strategy will affect the
project, but explanation lacks
detail, is illogical, contains
inaccuracies, does not consider
the triple constraint and any
other variables deemed
important, or does not include
tradeoffs that must be made to
accommodate the mitigation
strategy
Does not explain how the
proposed mitigation strategy will
affect the project
8
Risk Mitigation:
Best Course of
Action
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
defense makes cogent
connections between the
proposed mitigation strategy and
the project goals
Defends why the proposed
mitigation strategy is the best
course of action for the project
team
Defends why the proposed
mitigation strategy is the best
course of action for the project
team, but response is cursory or
illogical or contains inaccuracies
Does not defend why the
proposed mitigation strategy is
the best course of action for the
project team
8
Conclusion Meets “Proficient” criteria and
summary demonstrates an
advanced ability to distill project
information
Summarizes the project needs for
stakeholders
Summarizes the needs for
stakeholders, but summary is
unclear or missing key
components
Does not summarize the project
needs for stakeholders
8
Communication:
Professional
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
email demonstrates an advanced
ability to appropriately tailor
communication to a specified
audience
Develops email communication
in a clear and professional
manner, using language
appropriate for the audience of
stakeholders
Develops email communication
in a professional manner, but
language is not appropriate for
the audience of stakeholders or
information is not clear
Does not develop email in a clear
and professional manner using
language appropriate for the
audience of stakeholders
8
Communication:
Documentation
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
supporting documentation is
especially well-suited to aid in
the communication of the
proposed mitigation strategy
Attaches supporting
documentation to aid in the
communication of the mitigation
strategy
Attaches supporting
documentation to aid in the
communication of the mitigation
strategy, but documentation is
incomplete or contains
inaccuracies
Does not attach supporting
documentation to aid in the
communication of the mitigation
strategy
8
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and organization
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact readability
and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
4
Total 100%

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