A project team is in the process of risk planning. One of the team members identifies a weather- related risk, which may cause delivery delays. Which of the following is the BEST risk response…

Exploit is a response strategy for positive risks (opportunities), used to ensure the opportunity is realized; it is not applicable to a threat like weather delays.

Enhance is also an opportunity-focused strategy that increases the probability or impact of a positive risk, not a negative one.

Mitigation is the appropriate negative risk response strategy when a risk cannot be fully avoided but steps can be taken to reduce its likelihood or impact. For a weather-related delivery delay, mitigation actions could include building schedule buffers, using covered transport, or securing contingency suppliers. This strategy directly reduces the threat without requiring an opportunity to be leveraged.

Communicate is not a formal risk response strategy in the PMBOK framework; it describes information sharing, not an action taken against the risk.