BRYAN'S BLOG

Undersexed

A couple of weeks ago I ran a masterclass on “How to run an impactful risk workshop”. One of the questions asked at the end of the session was:

“Coming from an organisation that’s been running an Enterprise Risk Framework for many years and successfully lifting Risk Maturity, there are subtle hints of Risk Management fatigue. Would love some tips on how we can keep things lively!”

On the one hand I would like to question how mature the organisation’s risk culture is if there are signs of fatigue. In the most mature organisations, the management of risk is a leadership imperative. Not done for the comfort of the board or regulator. It is simply how we do business.

Having said that, I get that updating risk profiles in the absence of major organisational change can be less than awe inspiring. What is needed is for things to be sexed up a bit. My top three tips would be:

  1. Focus on what has changed in the business and the potential change in risk profile.
  2. Introduce new analysis tools. As a minimum I use stakeholder, PESTLE and my Capability Analysis tools (available from my website). So besides updating them I would think about introducing Industry Five Forces or Unique Selling Proposition or maybe some Value Chain analysis.
  3. Infographics. Google infographic “topic of risk assessment” (e.g. infographic payroll) and see if there is a graphic you can use as is or one that gives you some ideas as to how you can represent some of the data associated with the topic.

BTW, it doesn’t hurt to have a bit of fun in risk workshops. I often will run a fun activity that makes a point about the value of risk assessment. See this TikTok video by Simon Sinek for the importance of enjoyment at work.

Come to my Mastering Risk Workshop Facilitation Course and you will experience one of my fun activities!