Risk register vs risk report

Question

Risk documents normally are documents in possession of the Project Manager with the discretion to show only to Project Team and Sponsor.

Risk register is a document that contains all the work involved in the identification, quantification, qualification and evaluation of risks in matrix/table.

Questions

1. Risk report, is it a narrative document in summary of all the risks from the risk register?
2. Is it addressed exclusively to Sponsor? Other than him?
3. Are both deliverables? (Guess: Yes as they are output from Processes from PMI methodology)
4. If both are deliverables they should be in the WBS?

Answer 1

Question 1: Yes and no. The report is a summary message instrument but only contains the risks and work thereof necessary for THAT communication event, summarized at the appropriate decomposition for the intended audience. In other words, the report is whatever it needs to be to successfully communicate whatever message you need to deliver to that particular audience. It can be verbal, summarizing one threat, delivered to one particular stakeholder. Or it can be something entirely different.

Question 2: No. Your stakeholders will dictate what it is you need to communicate, when, how often, with what mechanism, and at what detail.

Question 3: Depends on your contract statement of work.

Question 4: Up to you. For me, these are outputs of a level of effort WBS item. My WBS would include the LOE task but may or may not include the specific outputs, depending on complexity, frequency, stakeholder desire, cost tracking need, etc. More likely, I would exclude it.