The most common risk in a project really depends on the industry and scope, but schedule risk tends to show up the most. Delays can happen for all sorts of reasons—resource shortages, technical challenges, or scope creep—and when deadlines slip, it can throw off budgets, stakeholder expectations, and even compliance in some industries. That said, financial risk is usually the most serious since running out of money or going way over budget can lead to cutting resources, scaling back the project, or even shutting it down completely. Of course, the biggest risk can change depending on the project. In construction or manufacturing, resource shortages might be the biggest headache, while in software development, quality issues could cause major problems, like security flaws or system failures. In the end, it really comes down to the project and what matters most for its success.

While all these risks are incredibly significant, one that is constantly present from the beginning of a project is financial risk. Questions on the presence of the finances needed for resources, work, and further development, are details that permeate every aspect of the project. From when the project is a concept, the financial value of the project needs to be considered in order to understand who the product will be for, who will invest to help the project be built, etc. The necessary inclusion of a business need within the project proposal demonstrates this. Documents and groups that involve consideration of stakeholders and customer needs, thus the business need, include the planning process group, and design input document. In the later stages of the project, finances are used to sustain the use of resources, determine schedules in terms of meetings with stakeholders and customers to display deliverables, and are considered in the goal of quality risk management through attempts of making the project more profitable while maintaining quality.

Quality risk is the most overarching type of risk as a product or process needs to meet every requirement listed in the project which might take several prototypes to create a comprehensive device. In addition, that device would then need to work as desired and have enough data to prove it will work without any hiccups or have unintended effects. It also needs to be tested to see if it withstands certain conditions and environments and that it isn't a hazard, not just in the short-term but also in the long-term. This means more finances, resources, and time are needed to prove that the product does all that. If it fails the quality check, then it may hold the product back from entering the market or cause problems like heavy fines for the company and product recalls if a genuine problem is eventually discovered.

I believe the most present risk in the majority of projects would have to be a schedule risk. This is because of the immense number of factors that can all affect the schedule of the project at any given moment. These can include inaccurate time estimates, communication delays, system issues, employees being sick, taking time off, or even being stuck in traffic, regulatory issues, supply issues, and much more. Although the other risks certain do arise in projects, the frequency of schedule risks is far greater than the others. However, despite their frequency, they are certainly not the most severe. Because of this, I would say that quality risks are likely the most devastating. This is due to the severe effects that quality risks can have. Not only would they pose a threat to the patient of a medical device, or consumer in general, but they threaten the company themselves. Quality risks not only damage the company's reputation, but hurt them financially through costly reworks, present legal troubles, or result in the cease of production or operation entirely. Financial, resource, and schedule risks are predominantly all recoverable or can be worked around with adjustment. Quality risks do not necessarily have the same recoverability and result in much more severe consequences. These factors most definitely change given the project. For example, for a medical device my previous statements hold true. However, for something such much simpler like a hand-held mirror, quality is certainly not as big of a concern. Quality risks would not pose anywhere near as much of a threat to consumers, nor result in much legal trouble and may not have a significant impact on the status of a company. A construction project would differ greatly as well, as schedule risks are still present but resource risks may be more present due to large resource demands and difficulty acquiring and moving the resources.