Sorry. No such thing when it comes to Change Programs like implementing your risk framework. Ask any professional change manager. And they don’t teach a lot of change management at risk school, do they? Haha! What risk school?
Most risk people get technical training. Few, as I have pointed out before in my blog, We must cure Mollisvitaephobia, get sufficient training in soft skills which are essential to effect change. On top of that, risk departments are also short on resources. After all, aren’t you just this necessary cost centre! So, what should you do if you need to affect a major Change Program, you are not an expert in change management and you are short on resources?
As I recommend in my book Risky Business: How Successful Organisations Embrace Uncertainty, you need to build a Change Program that results in there being advocates for risk within business units. Risk champions is another name for them, or a risk community of practice.
Forming, engaging and building engagement between communities of practice and the risk function is one of my favourite challenges. I love turning good, smart, business-savvy subject matter experts (SMEs) in to good, smart, business savvy SMEs that are good at managing uncertainty. They become the people who say, “Hey team, I think this is one we should stop and have a think about a bit more.” And proceed to facilitate a wee risk assessment or call in the experts from risk to run a more in-depth risk workshop.
If you want to know more about building advocates so that risk moves from being seen as the “Department of No” to the “Department of Grow” then download Chapter 7: Designing Success from my book. If you want to get my broader take on challenges facing the risk profession and my proposed solutions, you can buy the book here.
Stay safe!
PS. I’m thrilled to say my book Risky Business hit the #1 Amazon Best Seller list recently in the Risk Management Category. If you have read it and think it’s worthy of a review, I would greatly appreciate your time in leaving one. You would make this risk nerd very, very happy. Click HERE for the link.