This is one of those concepts that makes professionals scratch their heads. I was a victim of it myself. During my initial days ofPMP考试准备, I had difficulty understanding the difference between the contingency plan and the fallback plan.
I used to think that the contingency plan was used to manage identified risks and the fallback plan was for unidentified risks. This was wrong. Contingency and fallback plans help manage identified risks.
However, since both plans are used to manage risks, you may wonder which you should follow if any identified risk occurs as both deals with identified risks?
Since I have passed the PMP and PMI-RMP exams and understand these concepts well, I am writing this blog post and hope after reading it you will be able to differentiate the contingency and fallback plan.
Contingency Plan
Merriam-Webster将“应急”一词定义为“可能但不确定发生的事件”。
A contingency is an event that may or may not occur. Therefore, we can say that the contingency plan deals with events that may or may not occur.
A contingency plan is a part of the project management plan; it describes every action that you will take if any identified risk occurs.
让我们看一个现实世界中的现实示例。
A Real-World Example
你工作在一个建设项目,re is a risk that rain may fall during execution, which will damage any consumables lying out in the open.
的refore, you make a plan that says, “If there is an indication of rainfall, all consumables will be covered with a plastic sheet.” You further add that after the rain stops, you will bring a fan/vacuum pump to clean and dry the wet consumables.
This is a contingency plan for this risk event.
You can find many definitions of a contingency plan on the internet that may appear different to you, but they may be individually correct.
以下是应急计划的两个不同的解释。
- 应急计划是描述如果有机会或威胁发生的特定行动的计划。
- A contingency response strategy will be executed if there is a sufficient warning sign (risk trigger).
If you examine these definitions, you will find that they are not different, just phrased differently.
后备计划
后备计划是项目管理计划的一部分，并定义了必须采取行动的情况。
A fallback plan is implemented when the contingency plan fails or is not fully effective. It is a backup for the contingency plan. You can say that the fallback plan is generally made for residual risks.
A Real-World Example
Let’s reconsider the example given above.
假设降雨持续了很长时间，比预期的时间长，这会损害消耗品。
In this case, you will implement your fallback plan. It says that if the rain continues to fall for a very long time, causing consumables to be damaged and the contingency plan fails, you will reorder consumables from a pre-identified supplier.
This is an example of a fallback plan.
Before I go any further, let me share another example from my own experience.
I am using a third-party backup service to save data for my blog. I can use this backup in case my site crashes and my托管提供商does not have any backup.
这是我的应急计划。
现在,如果我的网站有黑客入侵,会发生什么at the same time my third-party backup service also went out of business? How would I restore my blog?
This is where my fallback plan comes into play. To save myself from such a disaster, I always keep an updated copy of my blog on my computer and Google Drive.
Now, if my blog is hacked and even the third party service fails, I can restore my blog from my backup stored on my computer or online storage.
的Difference Between the Contingency Plan and Fallback Plan
的re is no difference between the contingency plan and the fallback plan; they complement each other. The fallback plan only comes into use when the contingency plan fails.
Similarities Between the Contingency Plan and Fallback Plan
的similarities between these two plans are as follows:
- Both plans are known as risk responses.
- Both plans are used to manage the identified risks.
- Both plans utilize the contingency reserve for implementation.
Summary
偶然性和后备计划是您的骨干风险管理计划that helps you manage identified risks. You will implement the contingency plan if any identified risk occurs, and when the contingency plan fails or seem ineffective, you will implement the fallback plan.
You will use the contingency reserve to apply the contingency or fallback plan, not the management reserve because the contingency reserve is used for identified risks. The management reserve is used to manage unidentified risks.
I hope that now you understand these terms. However, if you still have some trouble, leave a comment below. I am ready to discuss.
的contingency plan and fallback plan are very important from a PMP and PMI-RMP exam point of view, so be sure to understand this topic well.
a project manager discover that a project problem has occurred.the problem was never discussed during risk planning activities or added to the risk register and it will now cost the project money .what will be an appropriate response for this situation?
由于未确定这种风险，项目经理将通过解决方法进行管理。
I’m not sure about the PMBOK terminology, but this is my take on risk response planning, from a logical perspective.
Once you have identified all of the risks you (and your team) can think of:
1. If you can reconfigure the project tasks in such a way to eliminate the risk by achieving the task objective in a different way, without negatively impacting schedule, budget, scope, or quality, you can make that change and AVOID the risk.
2. If you can outsource the risky task to another organization, shifting responsibility for the risk to them, you can TRANSFER the risk.
3. If you can augment your project plan in such a way to lessen either the probability or impact of the risk to a more acceptable level, then you can MITIGATE the risk. In this case, you are developing and implementing a MITIGATION PLAN, which becomes part of the baseline project, and for which you are proactively accepting the associated costs and budget impacts into the project. You are committing to paying for this.
4.如果主动更改不可行（成本或时间表的影响太高而无法按原样接受），则可以制定一项应急计划，只有在发生触发事件时才可以实现。该应急计划成为批准的项目基准的一部分，并将相关预算放在应急储备中。您接受风险，但是如果触发事件从未发生，则可能不必为此付费。您可能还可能制定因主要应急计划失败时可能发生的二级或剩余风险的应急计划，并将额外的预算分配给应急储备，以防其触发事件发生。这些二次应急计划可以被认为是后备计划。
Your approved project baseline allows for all of the above, and anything you do up to here generally would not require a scope change or additional approval. This covers all of the KNOWN-KNOWNS and the KNOWN-UNKNOWNS.
Now if something else occurs that you didn’t anticipate, it can be placed in one of the remaining two categories:
1. An UNKNOWN-KNOWN is something that you should have been able to identify WOULD occur in your project, but somehow you did not include this in your plan. This would generally be considered a planning error, since a skilled project manager would have realized that it must be included in the project plan.
2.在项目执行过程中可能会发生一个未知的事物，但是您没有合理的期望将其视为风险。如果发生这种情况，很难将责任归咎于项目计划，相反，大多数人认为这是不可预见的情况。
To limit the impact on the project, you have to be REACTIVE and implement a WORKAROUND, requesting approval for a scope change that would then be drawn from the MANAGEMENT RESERVE. You might also use the management reserve to react to low-risk events that had been previously identified but intentionally kept on the watch list.
As I said, I’m not sure how well this matches up with PMBOK-speak, but I find it to be a very logical framework for dealing with real project management situations.
Known-Unknown are identified risk for which you have to develop the contingency plan.
未知且未知的知名度应通过解决方法进行管理。
You are welcome Fahad. I have a quick question. Do we need to open a Change Request if we want to invoke the Contigency Reserve? (I know we need it for Management Reserve).
另外，如果我们需要实施工作，因为发生了不可预见的事情，并且我们没有针对它的任何响应策略，或者 - 我们的计划B失败了 - 我们是否需要调用CR？我认为答案是“是”，但需要确认。在这两种情况下，您的想法是什么？谢谢。
In first case, you will not raise the change request. You are going to use the contingency reserve, and no change request is required for it as there is no change in any baselines, scope or project plan.
In second case, ideally if any unforeseen incident occurs, you should use the management reserve.
谢谢。
I disagree on the first point. CR should be initiated because there will be a change in the cost baseline once the contingency reserve will get used. We might have to add more contingency fund for further risks / keep it as it is. nevertheless CR analysis has to be performed.
有适当的尊重。
我需要发出更改请求以利用应急情况吗？
Do i need to issue a change request after utilising the contingency reserves to reflect the update to the cost baseline?
Do i need to issue a change request to implement contingency plan?
1) No
2）否
3）否
Hi Fahad,
You do the 3 point estimate (for Time and Cost) based on risk available in project charter and doing so you may uncover some additional risks.
的se risk along with the ones identified during project initiation are dealt with risk management.
During risk management you prepare risk response but, some residual risk remains even after risk response planning.
Now my question is, we keep contingency reserve to “cover cost for risk response that we created” or for the “residual risk remaining that remains after risk response planning” or for both.
Regards,
Shoeb.
You will analyse the residual risk. If it requires further planning, you will go for it, other wise just keep in watch list for future monitoring.
的re are some low priority risks which are pushed into risk register as watchlist. when these risks occur what reserve will be used ? contingency or management reserve?
As per the PMBOK 5th edition page: 332,
“在低风险区域中发现的威胁可能不需要主动管理行动，而不是将其作为观察名单的一部分或增加应急储备的一部分。”
In your risk management/response plan, you have to decide that how you are going to manage the low priority risks. If you don’t keep contingency reserve, you will have to use the management reserve.
但是我不同意你。我们正在PMBOK中阅读有关接受策略的信息：“此策略可以是被动的，也可以是主动的。被动接受不需要行动，除了记录该策略，使项目团队在发生风险时处理。最常见的积极接受策略是建立应急储备，包括时间，金钱或资源来应对风险。”b0b体育app
So, Please put “chemical” in the situation of question in the place of “resource” in the above paragraph. The project manager buys 15% extra resource to handle the risk. He wants to have it as a reserve and IF some chemical were lost this 15? will be used. It is a proactive acceptance.
In this meaning that you said all strategies except passive accept will be “mitigate” because they are decreasing potential negative impact or probability of risk.
你同意？
In accept strategy (active) you don’t do anything to reduce the probability of risks. You don’t take any action unless the risk occurs, though you assign a contingency resource for it.
You deal with it if it occurs.
While in mitigation, you try to reduce the probability of happening of risks.
After reading this article bit confused between Risk response and Contingency plan. Both look same to me now, but is it really same or any difference? Please let me know if contingency plan is more or less same as RIsk response.
请澄清。
Contingency Plan is a Risk Response Plan. When a Risk occurs, you'll implement the contingencyplan.And if the contingency plan fails, you'll implement the Fallback Plan. Fallback Plan is also a risk response plan but it is implemented when contingency plan fails.Contingency and Fallback Plans – both are the risk response plan.Hope it clears your doubt.Sent from my iPhone