Risks can be foreseeable and unforeseeable. In both cases, astute project managers are prepared with some means of dealing with them. Many risk management plans address only foreseeable risks and fail to address the unforeseeable ones. For that reason, project planning must include a degree of schedule, cost, and scope margin.

Michael Taylor, a project manager with more than 30 years of experience, suggests that the most effective way to manage project risks is to adopt a process that systematically deals with the overall problem of uncertain events and conditions that might affect a project’s objectives. This process involves the following five steps.

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