A project manager meets with the team to review lessons learned from previous projects; this activity mainly supports which risk management process?

Introduction / Context:
In PMI based project management, lessons learned are an important source of historical information. Reviewing past successes and failures helps the current project team anticipate potential issues and opportunities. Certification exams often test whether you can correctly link the use of historical lessons learned to the appropriate process within the risk management knowledge area.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The project manager and team are explicitly reviewing lessons learned from previous projects.
• The goal is to use this information during the current project, especially in early planning stages.
• The answer choices include performance management, scope identification, risk identification, and a generic project team status meeting.
• The context clearly suggests using past experience to anticipate future events.

Concept / Approach:
Risk identification is the process of determining which risks may affect the project and documenting their characteristics. One of the key inputs to risk identification in PMI methodology is historical information and lessons learned from previous projects. By reviewing where projects encountered problems or opportunities in the past, the team can list similar risks for the current project. While lessons learned can also inform other processes, the main risk related use is in identifying potential risks early.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recognize that the activity described is a structured review of prior project experience, not just an update on current status. Step 2: Recall that risk identification explicitly uses historical information and lessons learned as standard inputs. Step 3: Compare this to performance management, which is more about measuring and controlling current performance, not primarily about anticipating new risks. Step 4: Select risk identification as the process most directly supported by reviewing lessons learned from previous projects.

Verification / Alternative check:
Looking at PMI style process diagrams, Identify Risks uses enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets, including historical information and lessons learned. Formal risk identification sessions often begin with a review of past risk registers and post project reviews to brainstorm likely risks. This direct link confirms that the described meeting supports the risk identification process more than the other listed processes.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, performance management, focuses on evaluating current project performance against plan using metrics and reports. Lessons learned may provide context but are not the primary focus there. Option B, scope identification, is about defining what the project will deliver; while history can help, the question specifically highlights risk relevant use of lessons. Option D, a generic project team status meeting, usually centers on current tasks and progress, not structured analysis of previous projects to identify risks.

Common Pitfalls:
Many candidates see any meeting with the project team as a status meeting, but exam questions often provide clues about the real intent of the session. When historical lessons learned are explicitly mentioned in the context of anticipating future events, think risk identification. Another pitfall is assuming risk identification is a one time activity; in reality, it is iterative, and lessons learned can be reviewed at multiple points in the project to refine the risk register.

Final Answer:
The described meeting primarily supports the process of risk identification.