BSBPMG426: Apply project risk management techniques - Simulation Pack
Project and Risk Management
28th May 2025
5
BSBPMG426 | Apply project risk management techniques (Release 1)
BSB40920 | Certificate IV in Project Management Practice
This Simulation pack contains information required to complete the Skills Assessment where the student has elected to conduct simulated projects.
You are an employee at Gelos Enterprises, an innovation and professional services firm. Gelos serves clients across a wide range of industries. Go to Gelos Enterprise website and review the company’s mission statement and business objectives.
To develop leading products, technologies, and consultancy services, Gelos has identified two new opportunities. The projects are:
Improving
Gelos Enterprises’
website
.
I
mplementing
a
new customer relationship management (CRM) software to provide client insights.
You will take on the role of Project Assistant for both of the two projects. You will work closely with the Project Manager of both projects, the project teams and supporting staff from various departments.
This skills assessment requires you to apply project risk management techniques to two different projects:
Website redesign.
CRM implementation.
You must demonstrate that you can:
assist the project manager in identifying and prioritising potential risks
assist the project manager in developing risk-management strategies, plans and reporting mechanisms
apply, monitor and review risk-control measures, including contingency measures to mitigate risks
evaluate, review and report on risk-management processes and make recommendations for future improvements
.
Please note that these are two separate projects. To review specific information related to Project 1, refer to page 3. To review specific information related to Project 2, refer to page 6.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Tasks 1 – 8 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
Gelos is preparing to redevelop and improve the company website. You have been tasked as a Project Assistant on this project. Improving Gelos Enterprises’ website will help the organisation achieve its overall goals of growing sales revenue by 25% in the coming two years. The purpose of the website will be providing information on business offerings and generating sales enquiries. It will also be the landing page of multiple web-based marketing strategies that Gelos Enterprises are implementing across the business.
The project deliverables are the establishment of a professional, attractive and informative website.
The benefits of the website are to have a high-quality presence on the internet that provides information about our services and call to actions to encourage prospective clients to make contact with the business. The impact will be improved profitability and an increased customer base.
Alongside the Project Manager, you had a quick briefing with the CEO regarding the project. The CEO states that:
the
website redesign
is set to start immediately, and needs to be completed within
eight weeks
or will go over budget
there is a budget of
$8,500,
plus any ongoing costs
a
seven
-person project team will be involved
a
n external content writer and website developer
will be employed for this project
the website needs to be
accessible
within
one
day
of rollout completion
Gelos WHS (Work Health and Safety) Policy and ICT Risk management policy should be consulted.
Trudi Barr, the Project Manager for this project, is responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing the project. You will be Trudi’s Project Assistant for this project.
Donna Chisholm, the Project Co-ordinator of Gelos Enterprises, will help with sending emails to communicate updates to colleagues across the organisation.
Dan Nguyen is the IT Manager and has experience working at an IT consultancy firm. Dan was a part of the team that designed Gelos Enterprises’ initial website. He will sign off once the website redesign project has finished.
Charles Bennet is an external content writer who is coming in for six weeks only to support Dan’s team.
Aditi Gupta is an external website developer who has extensive experience with web design. Aditi will be supporting Dan’s team.
Alex Ingham, the Chief Financial Officer will be in control of the finances of the project and will make decisions regarding expenses. Alex will also conduct financial analysis to determine bottom-line benefits for Gelos.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Tasks 1-3 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Dear student name,
As you may be aware, Gelos Enterprises’ business objectives for the next three years are increasing sales, creating brand awareness, and expanding the business across Australia. A significant part of our marketing strategy is to build our web presence through social media, search engine optimisation and web-based marketing.
The first step in building our web presence is to update our current website. You have been assigned the role of Project Assistant in this project. I have been appointed as a Project Manager for this project. Part of my role will be to complete a Project Scope Management Plan. In this plan, I will describe the risk management approach Gelos Enterprises will apply to the project in broad terms.
My approach will be to follow Gelos Enterprises’ WHS Hazard Risks and Reporting Procedure
and ICT Risk Management Policy (Due to my workload, I will need someone to assist me with aspects of risk management and contribute to preparing the Risk Management Plan, part of which is the Risk Identification and Prioritisation Register.
We will need to meet to discuss the different risks in detail, risk analysis methods, tools and techniques and risk management strategies to manage and monitor the project risks. However, you will need to be prepared and indeed are expected to contribute to the discussion.
I suggest prior to the meeting you do the following, documenting your thoughts on the template we use for that purpose, Risk Identification and Prioritisation Register:
Identify the required deliverables, objectives and resources required for the project, and we can compare notes of what I want to include in the Project Scope Management Plan
Identify the potential and actual risks (threats) for the project. I think it is a good idea to identify at least five (5) risks across the life of the project – one risk for each of the following areas:
(a)
Resources (human)
(b)
B
udget
, (c)
Performance and quality
(d)
Scope
and (d)
Schedule.
On past experience, one of the things we often don’t do well at Gelos Enterprises is managing scope creep. This leads us to not meeting our project timelines. We must add it in as an ‘actual’ risk to the project.
Then, for each risk:
Identify the stage it may occur in the life cycle of the project.
Explain t
he priority of the risk based on the potential impact on the project.
Explain h
ow each risk might be monitored.
Select one (1) of the risks and visually document (
Risk Analysis Process
) how you determined the risk rating for that risk. You will also need to explain the process and tool at the meeting, referring to
the policy and procedure.
Once you have completed this, can you please send a copy of the Risk Identification and Prioritisation Register to me. I will then organise a meeting to make some decisions on the methods, techniques, and tools to mitigate the risk, look at risk management plans, and work on how we will report and monitor the risks.
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 4 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Good morning student name,
As I mentioned during our meeting the other day, I liked the strategies you used to identify the project's risks, controls, and contingency plans. Could you please assist me by outlining what a risk management strategy is, why it is important and how the strategies can be applied to other projects at Gelos Enterprises, currently and in the future?
I am writing an article for the monthly newsletter, so I need concise but clear information. I am limited to 200 words or so. You can use bullet points if it helps.
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 5 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
Part of your role as a Project Assistant is to contribute to monitoring project risks as the project progresses through the project life cycle. The quotes from four different website developers have been finally received. It is now one month into the project, and the project is behind schedule.
You receive the following email from
the Project Co-ordinator, Donna Chisholm
.
Hi student name,
Thanks for meeting with me yesterday to run through the content for the website written by the consultants, PR Pulse. As we discussed yesterday, the content is exactly what we were hoping for.
After seeing the quality of work PR Pulse produce, I have reviewed their website and other services they offer. I would like to add the following to the project scope which I believe will improve the website.
We would like you to ask PR Pulse to prepare one newsletter and at least four blogs to be included as part of the website launch. I think this would greatly increase the quality and usefulness of our website. I took the liberty of speaking to Marty from PR Pulse who advised that this work would be at a cost of $2,000 which I would hope can be accommodated within the project timelines and budget.
Just as a point of concern, it would have been great to have been involved with the project scoping as this kind of addition could have been identified as required in the first place.
Cheers,
Donna Chisholm
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 6 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Good morning student name,
Thank you for alerting me to the additional risks we might be facing and the opportunity we have to enhance the project. I haven’t had a chance to read Donna’s email yet, so it is good you have picked up on this.
I will need some time to consider Donna’s suggestion and the risk involved in the project. Before I do this, I need to understand the impact the change will have on the risks we have identified in relation to scope, budget, schedule, human resources, quality, and performance.
Just some first thoughts. If we go with Donna’s suggestion, we will definitely go over budget but only by about $1,000 to $1,200. The time I think for the development of the blog and newsletter is going to take longer, like another three weeks to develop, but we would need to check with Donna to be sure, and since we have already been into this project for a month, it looks like we won’t meet our timelines. Additionally, none of the web developers who are quoting can provide a completion date that will enable us to meet our two-month deadline. However, we may be able to negotiate a shorter timeframe.
In all of this, we will need to think about the possible benefit to the business of a change to the project scope.
So, I would like you to complete the following:
Add any new risks you might identify in response to my comments above and
Donna’s
email that is not already
covered in the Risk Control Register and the Risk Identification and Prioritisation Register.
Amend all sections of the risk management plans' current risks to reflect the changes and risk levels as needed.
Identify where you think the opportunity for the changes will outweigh the risk identified to the project deliverables in terms of time and budget.
Once you have done this, please prepare a short report using the attached template (there is guidance on what you need to report on in the template). In the report, can you also give your opinion on how we might proceed and at least one recommendation for action?
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 7 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Good morning student name,
Bestweb Designs sent through the new website's final draft on Thursday, and the Board approved the design on Friday afternoon.
Today the site will go live. We are a few days behind schedule and about $800 over budget, but overall, Gelos Enterprises’ management is pleased with the result.
Donna Chisholm is particularly thrilled and is confident that the website will generate significant new business and be an excellent landing page for the other web-based marketing strategies that are to be implemented.
Since you have covered most of the risk assessment for the project, I would like your input into the closing Project Website review report by answering the questions on the attached document.
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Did you think the project was a success? Explain your reasoning, including how you compared the project outcomes with the risk management controls and contingency plans.
How easy was it to review the project outcomes against the risk management controls and contingency plans?
What were the changed circumstances during the project that impacted the project risks identified at the project's planning stage?
How effective were the risk management controls and contingency plans in enabling the project to meet its outcomes? Identify and discuss the issues arising from the feedback
What changes would you make to the Risk Management Identification and Prioritisation Register and the Risk Control Register to ensure that the risk treatment is more effective the next time you use the registers?
What value do you think the initial meeting in the project planning stages lent to the process of identifying the risk controls and contingencies? Include in your response how,
in your role as
Project Assistant
, you might contribute more to the process of identifying risk, risk mitigation and contingency planning.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Tasks 9 – 14 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
Gelos is preparing to implement a new CRM in what is expected to be a six-week long project. You have been tasked as a Project Assistant on this project.
Alongside the Project Manager, you had a quick briefing with the CEO regarding the project. The CEO states that:
the CRM implementation is set to start immediately, and needs to be completed within six weeks or will go over budget
there is a budget of $100,000 for the CRM implementation, plus any ongoing costs
a
seven
-person project team will be involved
one individual in the project team is an external implementation consultant, who will be working internally with the team but has not completed the usual onboarding processes required for regular employees and will not have the time to do so. This raises some confidentiality and privacy concerns
s
taff need to be using the CRM within two weeks of rollout completion, to avoid
l
osing customer data and other essential information
Gelos WHS (Work Health and Safety) Policy and ICT Risk management policy should be consulted.
Trudi Barr, the Project Manager for this project, is responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing the project. You will be Trudi’s Project Assistant for this project.
Donna Chisholm, the Project Co-ordinator of Gelos Enterprises, will help with sending emails to communicate updates to colleagues across the organisation for key change management milestones. Donna will also help with preparing training materials for Gelos staff.
Dan Nguyen is the IT Manager and has experience working at an IT consultancy firm. Dan is familiar with the implementation of CRM systems. He will be connecting with the CRM supplier to discuss implementation, bringing on Gelos employees for the implementation, and signing off once the CRM has finished.
Amanda Milton is an IT specialist who has no background in CRM implementation but will be supporting Dan Nguyen in taking the lead on the project.
Charles Bennet, an external IT contractor who is coming in for six weeks only to support Dan’s team.
Alex Ingham, the Chief Financial Officer will be in control of the finances of the CRM and will make decisions regarding expenses. Alex will also conduct financial analysis to determine bottom-line benefits for Gelos.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Tasks 9 – 10 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Dear student name,
Well, the Website Redesign project was a resounding success, both in the project outcomes and in the part you played in contributing to the risk management of the project.
As a result, we would like you to assist once again with another project's risk management. This project is the CRM Implementation Project, which I know you have already received some information about.
Your first task is to organise a meeting with Donna Chisholm to identify the risks for this project. I won’t be available to meet in this instance.
You are to use the same forms as the previous project, that is the Risk Identification and Prioritisation Register and the Risk Control Register and any other reporting forms.
You will need to:
Arrange a
meeting with
Donna
.
She
is
aware of
her
role
in this project
.
Prepare the
r
isk
r
egisters so you can fill them in at the meeting to save time.
Include on the form the project
deliverables, objectives and resources
.
You will need to make sure
Donna is
aware of these before starting to list the risks, controls and contingency plans for the project
.
B
rainstorm the risks before trying to fill out the
r
isk
r
egisters. This way, you can identify very quickly what can be combined or stands on its own.
Then, c
omplete the
r
isk
r
egisters, including the contingency plans and risk management strategies for controlling the risks.
P
repare a simple table in another document that lists the identified risks. Then briefly explain the risk management strategy use
d
to address the risk,
i.e.,
avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept or escalate and why the choice was made.
Once you have completed the meeting, prepare an email
to
me
outlining the approach you have taken and the results. Attach the
risk r
egisters and the risk management document to the email.
If you need any help in this task, please ask – I am only a phone call or email away.
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 12 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
Read the following scenario.
It is now the start of the second week of the project. You have rung to speak with Dan Nguyen, the IT Manager, to see the final CRM implementation plan. After reaching out unsuccessfully, Donna informs you that he has gone on sick leave for two weeks. Donna also said that prior to going on sick leave, Dan was working with Amanda Milton and Charles Bennet to plan the implementation. According to project schedule, the team must begin the CRM implementation this week. However, they have not submitted the implementation plan and it has not been approved by the management.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 13 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
Read the following scenario.
The team has been notified by the CRM supplier that there has been a security breach affecting their servers. All services have been suspended for two days to resolve the issue. As a result, the technical implementation of the CRM platform is paused for two days. The CRM supplier is working as fast as possible to protect customer data and to avoid major disruptions to customer processes. They are very apologetic about the situation.
Note: The following contains information required to complete Task 14 of BSBPMG426_AE_Sk2of2
You receive the following email from the Project Manager, Trudi Barr.
Dear student name,
As you are aware, Gelos Enterprises’ CRM platform has gone live and our employees have started to use the system.
As per organisational policy, we are required to complete a lessons learnt document. I know this does not always happen as not everyone sees this as an important part of the project process. I have asked the project team for feedback on how they felt the process of risk identification, prioritisation, control and contingency planning led to the success of the project, and whether they encountered any issues. I have attached the feedback in this email.
Using the feedback, you are to complete the Risk Management Questionnaire. From there, I can complete the required lessons learnt and final project reports.
Kind Regards,
Trudi Barr
Dear Trudi,
From my point of view the project was a success and this was because there was a clear description of the project end results and project objectives. There was the usual project risk of an implementation delay due to supplier issues. This delay used up the remaining budget for the project.
I think we have already covered the risk analysis and planning and if you remember we thought the brainstorming and the record keeping of the risks worked well. I was very pleased to be included in the process from the beginning. Still don’t seem to be able to stop the project risks though. It seems to me this is all part of the process and management doesn’t seem to worry, if the project goes over time or budget slightly, or there is a change to scope mid project.
Hope this helps.
Kind Regards,
Donna Chisholm
Hi Trudi,
Overall, considering the project came in on budget and time, I guess the project was a success. Amanda and Charles did a great job managing the implementation and communication with the CRM supplier while I was on sick leave.
My only negative in this whole process was communication with the rest of the project team. Most of my communication on this project was with my IT team, Amanda and Charles.
Despite this, I am happy with the team’s efforts and the finished product.
Cheers,
Dan Nguyen