It Takes a Community to Manage Risk Effectively

Posted on: November 21, 2018
Author: TJ Kuhny

Risk managers are seeking ways to engage a broader range of the organization to keep risk management as a top priority for all. Without engagement across the organization, today’s risk manager can put the organization at greater risk by missing out on key insights that cannot be gained by relying on personal experience and training. The community has the answers (or at least the right questions) in today’s complex organizations.

Many risk management programs tend to look at external and internal risks in traditional ways which results in programs stuck in risk initiatives that have good intentions but lack the most current operational insights. Organizations have simply become too complex to understand potential risks without engaging more constituents deeper into the extended enterprise. The challenge is how to reach those that may not fully be aware of their role in controlling risk but who are very much aware of where risk exists.

Today’s leaders seek to obtain and leverage more direct input by engaging communities of people that are not typically thought of as core to managing risk. Ideally, these communities would become occasional users of the central risk management system and contribute their unique insights to build a more complete information foundation that tells a complete picture of the organization.

A community is built around a specific purpose that can benefit both the risk manager and the users. Members of each community may not always be aware of the larger impact they are having, but when a system is effective, the community users both receive and share information in ways that expand what is possible in any risk management program, including operating efficiently and uncovering issues faster to help the organization meet its obligations to customers, shareholders and employees.

Users who make up a community that a risk manager needs to engage may not even know the other members of their community. However, the risk manager can group them together when they have similar information needs to share and gain new insights in both directions.

The positive impact of engaging broader communities in managing risk directly through their personalized view of the central risk system includes:

• Identifying risks earlier so they can be treated or mitigated
• Recovering faster through better planning based on community insights
• Communicating accurately at critical times of need because the community is organized in the system
• Reducing effort to onboard and approve new vendors, reducing risk by engaging the vendor community directly in formal risk processes
• Engaging an executive community to drive more efficient workflows and approval processes
• Engaging trusted vendors as part of your extended team securely
• Providing tools for safety and security to the broad community, preventing harm and optimizing outcomes

Managing risk can no longer be done only by the few who have the words “risk manager” in their title. Organizations are too complex to rely on traditional methods to uncover internal risks, which can be akin to guessing or chance when broader communities of contributors are not engaged. Fusion can help those communities with our products and services. Find out more about how to better engage your community of users.