Planning Tools
Browse our suite of planning tools. Select a tool from the tabs below to learn more about how it works and when to use it.
Available Tools
Risk Storming
Identify, assess, and plan responses to risks on a 3×3 grid
What is it?
A structured facilitation session where the full team independently identifies risks for a Feature, Problem, or Initiative — each rated by Probability and Impact — and proposes a response type and action plan.
Why use it?
Teams often enter sprints or delivery cycles without explicitly surfacing risks. When risks emerge mid-execution, teams are caught off-guard with no agreed response plan. Risk Storming surfaces risks early, collects the full team's perspective simultaneously (avoiding anchoring), and leaves the team with a concrete response plan — not just a list of worries.
How it works
Each participant independently submits one or more risks with a Probability (Low / Medium / High), Impact (Low / Medium / High), Response Type (Avoid / Mitigate / Transfer / Accept), and a short response description. Submissions are blind — no one sees others' risks until the facilitator triggers a simultaneous reveal. All risks are then plotted on a 3×3 Probability × Impact grid for discussion.
When to use it?
Before sprint kickoff, at the start of a new initiative, during delivery planning for a high-stakes feature, or any time the team needs to surface and respond to uncertainty before it becomes an incident.
Who should attend?
The entire delivery team — engineers, designers, QA, and the Scrum Master or Agile Coach as facilitator. Product Owners and stakeholders may join to add business-risk perspective.
Facilitator tips
- 1
Set a clear, specific context before going live. "Our Q3 roadmap" is too broad; "the new payment integration going live in week 6" gives participants something concrete to assess.
- 2
Keep the submission phase time-boxed to 8–10 minutes. Open-ended brainstorming produces diminishing returns after the first few risks per person.
- 3
When risks cluster in the Critical zone (High Probability × High Impact), resist the urge to immediately assign owners. Discuss root causes first — two risks that look separate often share a single mitigation.
- 4
Risks in the Low zone are still worth a quick scan. An 'Accept' response should be a deliberate choice, not an oversight.