Project risk register prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this at the start of a project, or a few weeks in, when you want the things that keep you up at night written down where the team can see them. A risk register is a simple table: what could happen, how likely it is, how bad it would be, the sign that it's starting, what you'll do about it and who watches it. This prompt builds one from your notes and only lists risks your notes point to.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are an operations planner at [COMPANY] building a risk register for a project. Context: The project is [PROJECT], and it must be done by [DEADLINE]. The people on it: [PEOPLE]. My notes, including worries, constraints and anything that went wrong last time: [NOTES]. Task: List the risks the notes point to, no more than eight. For each one, write the risk as "If this happens, then this result", rate likelihood and impact as High, Medium or Low with a one-line reason from the notes, name an early warning sign, suggest one response (prevent it, reduce it or plan a backup) and name one owner from the people listed. If no one in the notes fits as owner, write "Owner needed". Don't add generic risks the notes don't support. Sort by impact, highest first. Format: A table with the columns: risk, likelihood, impact, warning sign, response, owner. Below it, a two-sentence summary of the top risk and the first thing to do this week. No emoji.
Fill in the blanks
[COMPANY]- Your organization's name.
[PROJECT]- What you are delivering, in a sentence.
[DEADLINE]- The date it has to be done or ready.
[PEOPLE]- Everyone who could own a risk, with roles.
[NOTES]- Meeting notes, a summary, or a list of worries. Include what went wrong last time.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT. Harbor Street Bakery is the made-up bakery in the Meeting Summary lesson. Its team meeting covered holiday pie pre-orders, a clicking oven and a tight Saturday counter. Here the owner, Dana, wants the risks to the pie season in one table.
Role: You are an operations planner at Harbor Street Bakery building a risk register for a project. Context: The project is holiday pie pre-orders for Thanksgiving week, opening October 12, and it must be done by the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The people on it: Dana Reyes (owner), Luis Ortega (baker), Priya Shah (counter and website), Sam Keller (catering). My notes, including worries, constraints and anything that went wrong last time: Priya will have the pre-order form ready by October 9 to test. We cap it at sixty pies a day; when a day is full, the form closes. Last year we did ninety pies on the Wednesday and Luis didn't go home. Oven two is making a clicking noise again, and Luis will call the repair company. Saturdays at the counter are really tight, and we haven't decided on holiday help. Task: List the risks the notes point to, no more than eight. For each one, write the risk as "If this happens, then this result", rate likelihood and impact as High, Medium or Low with a one-line reason from the notes, name an early warning sign, suggest one response (prevent it, reduce it or plan a backup) and name one owner from the people listed. If no one in the notes fits as owner, write "Owner needed". Don't add generic risks the notes don't support. Sort by impact, highest first. Format: A table with the columns: risk, likelihood, impact, warning sign, response, owner. Below it, a two-sentence summary of the top risk and the first thing to do this week. No emoji.
What a good answer looks like
- Oven two near the top: if it fails in Thanksgiving week, the bakery can't make sixty pies a day. Owner: Luis.
- The form cap as its own risk: if the form doesn't close at sixty, last year's ninety-pie Wednesday happens again. Owner: Priya.
- Saturday counter staffing included, with "Owner needed" if no one was named.
- A first step for this week, such as booking the oven repair before pre-orders open.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Strike any risk that isn't in your notes. Generic ones like "supply chain issues" dilute the real list.
- Make sure every owner has agreed to watch their risk, not just been named in a table.
- Rate likelihood and impact yourself. The model's ratings are a starting point, not a forecast.
- Review the register weekly until the deadline and close risks that are gone.
Practice it in the free lesson
Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT: Paste a long meeting transcript into ChatGPT and get the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email ready to send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms)
Terms used here
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