A project regardless of its size, budget, or complexity, encounters risks. These risks range from resources to technical failures, stakeholder misalignment to shifting regulatory environments can derail objectives, timelines, and even the viability of an entire project.

That’s where risk management comes into place. While various tools exist to help identify, assess, and mitigate risks, one powerful but often underutilized visual tool is the risk burndown chart. Much like the sprint burndown charts used in Agile to track task completion over time, a risk burndown chart visually shows the declining level of project risk as mitigations are implemented and the project progresses.