PMP · Question #538
An agile team is in the early phases of the development cycle for a project; however, they have already begun to deliver functionality to the customer. The team has identified risks to the project…
The correct answer is C. Incorporate and prioritize the risks in the risk register according to impact. After identifying risks and beginning mitigation strategy development, the project manager should formally document and prioritize these risks in the risk register based on their potential impact to ensure structured management.
Question
An agile team is in the early phases of the development cycle for a project; however, they have already begun to deliver functionality to the customer. The team has identified risks to the project and are working on developing the mitigation strategy. What should the project manager do next?
Options
- AEscalate the risk to the project sponsor and steering committee.
- BImplement the risk mitigation strategy according to the highest impact.
- CIncorporate and prioritize the risks in the risk register according to impact.
- DDetermine if any of the new risks have any financial impact.
How the community answered
(28 responses)- A14% (4)
- B7% (2)
- C75% (21)
- D4% (1)
Why each option
After identifying risks and beginning mitigation strategy development, the project manager should formally document and prioritize these risks in the risk register based on their potential impact to ensure structured management.
Escalating risks without fully analyzing and prioritizing them, or having a preliminary mitigation plan, might be premature and not provide the sponsor or steering committee with enough actionable information.
Implementing mitigation strategies prematurely without formally prioritizing all identified risks could lead to addressing less critical risks before more impactful ones, potentially misallocating resources.
In risk management, after identifying risks and even while developing mitigation strategies, it is crucial to formally document and analyze them. Incorporating and prioritizing risks in the risk register according to their potential impact allows the team to focus on the most critical threats first, systematically track their status, and ensure that mitigation efforts are aligned with the overall project objectives and risk tolerance.
While determining financial impact is an important part of risk analysis, it is a component of a broader risk assessment and prioritization process, which is best captured and managed within a risk register.
Concept tested: Agile risk management and risk register maintenance
Source: https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/perform-qualitative-risk-analysis
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Ingrid P.Jun 11, 2026C. You identified the risks and started mitigation planning, so the next step is getting them into the risk register and ranked by impact so the team can sequence their response work. I made a card for this one: the trigger phrase is identified risks plus mitigation strategy in progress, and the answer is always log and prioritize before you act.
Olusegun A.Jun 11, 2026Agree on C but tweak the card slightly: the real trigger is identified risks with a response being planned, which means you update the risk register and run qualitative analysis to prioritize before you execute any mitigation.
Prof. SaraJun 16, 2026C is correct because agile risk management demands that identified risks land in the risk register and get prioritized by impact so the team can sequence them against other backlog work. Option B skips the prioritization step, which is the whole point before you act. One thing I want to clarify: in your agile environment, does the risk register live as a separate document or is it integrated directly into the product backlog as risk-themed user stories?
Olusegun A.Jun 4, 2026C. B is tempting but you prioritize before you implement in agile.