RAID covers risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies, and the value sits in the review, not in owning the file. Every entry gets a named owner and a date. Risks carry triggers, issues carry a resolution plan, assumptions get validated into fact or promoted to risks, and dependencies carry the other side's commitment. Review live entries weekly and close things properly.
Why interviewers ask this
Almost every project manager lists RAID on a resume, so interviewers dig into how you actually operate it. They listen for owners and dates on every row, for the assumptions column being used rather than ignored, and for pruning. The insight that an assumption is a risk you have not admitted to yet is a strong signal of someone who has been caught out by one.
How to structure your answer
- Define the four categories briefly, then move to practice.
- Put a named owner and a date on every entry.
- Validate assumptions into facts or promote them to risks.
- Review live entries weekly and close them out.
- Keep the log small enough that people read it.
Example answer
The log itself is trivial, the discipline is in the review. Risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies, and every single row has a named owner and a date, otherwise it is decoration. Risks need a trigger, so we know when to act rather than debating likelihood every week. Assumptions are the ones people neglect and they are the most useful column, because an assumption is a risk you have not admitted to yet. I go through them and either validate them into fact or promote them to risks. Issues need a resolution plan and an owner, not just a description. And I review the live entries weekly and actually close things, so the log stays at a size people will read. If it has drifted to forty rows, nobody is reading any of them, and I would rather have eight live entries everyone knows than a complete archive nobody opens.
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See how it worksFollow-up questions to expect
- Where does the RAID log live, and who else updates it?
- How do you decide when a risk becomes an issue?
- What do you do with risks that stay open for the whole project?
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