HKSM

Uncertain events or conditions that, if they occur, will benefit the project and improve its objectives are called opportunities.

Key Points

• Opportunities are the positive side of risk and can reduce cost or time, improve quality, or increase value.
• Typical response strategies for opportunities are exploit, enhance, share, and accept.
• They are identified, analyzed for probability and impact, prioritized, assigned owners, and tracked in the risk register.
• In agile settings, opportunities may lead to backlog changes, spikes, or experiments to capture value quickly.

Example

During an agile software project, the team learns about a free cloud credits program that could speed up performance testing and cut costs. The team plans to exploit the opportunity by migrating tests to the sponsored environment to reduce schedule and budget.

PMP Example Question

Which of the following best represents an opportunity?

1. A key supplier may miss a critical shipment by two weeks.
2. A new automation tool could shorten test execution time by 30%.
3. A new regulation may require an additional compliance audit.
4. A senior developer resigns unexpectedly.

Correct Answer: B — Opportunity

Explanation: The new tool could produce a beneficial outcome (shorter testing), which is a positive risk, i.e., an opportunity.