Schedule Risks and Opportunities are typically identified, documented, and tracked by the project team as part of the project's risk and opportunity management process. In addition to recording the existence of a Risk or Opportunity, project teams often maintain supporting information such as a unique identifier, the potential schedule impact if the event is realized, and the estimated likelihood of occurrence. Unlike duration uncertainty, which is always present, Risks and Opportunities are conditional events that either occur or do not occur.
A Risk is a potential future event or condition that, if realized, would negatively impact the schedule. In schedule risk analysis, risks typically represent events that may cause work to take longer than planned or delay a Key Event. For example, a project team may identify a risk that a specific test may fail. If the test is unsuccessful, additional time will be required to investigate the failures, implement corrective actions, and repeat testing. As a result, the testing activity will take longer than planned, potentially downstream activities and the Key Event(s) it supports.
An Opportunity is a potential future event or condition that, if realized, could positively impact the schedule. In schedule risk analysis, opportunities typically represent events that may allow work to be completed faster than planned or accelerate a Key Event. For example, a project team may identify an opportunity to reuse an existing test procedure instead of developing a new one. If that opportunity occurs, the affected task will require less time to complete, potentially accelerating downstream activities and the Key Event(s) it supports.
Risks and Opportunities can exist in many forms, including those that affect cost, technical performance, resources, or other aspects of a project. However, throughout this document, the terms Risk and Opportunity refer specifically to Schedule Risks and Schedule Opportunities that may impact activity durations, milestone dates, or overall schedule performance.
