What's your process for measuring and improving risk management?

1 Define your objectives

Before you can measure and improve your risk management, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Your objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, you might want to reduce the likelihood of a certain type of risk by 50% in the next six months, or increase the resilience of your team to cope with unexpected events. Your objectives should align with your overall vision, mission, and strategy, and reflect your risk appetite and tolerance.

2 Identify and analyze your risks

Once you have your objectives, you need to identify and analyze the risks that could affect them. You can use various tools and techniques to do this, such as brainstorming, surveys, interviews, checklists, SWOT analysis, scenario planning, and risk matrices. You should consider both internal and external risks, and both positive and negative risks. You should also evaluate the likelihood and impact of each risk, and rank them according to their priority and urgency.

3 Plan and implement your responses

After you have identified and analyzed your risks, you need to plan and implement your responses. You can choose from four main types of responses: avoid, transfer, mitigate, or accept. Depending on the nature and level of the risk, you might want to eliminate it, share it with another party, reduce its probability or impact, or simply acknowledge it and monitor it. You should also assign roles and responsibilities for each risk response, and document them in a risk register or a risk management plan.

4 Monitor and review your risks

Once you have planned and implemented your responses, you need to monitor and review your risks regularly. You should track the progress and performance of your risk responses, and measure them against your objectives and indicators. You should also update your risk register or plan with any changes, new risks, or emerging issues. You should also communicate your risk status and results to your stakeholders, and solicit their feedback and input.

5 Learn and improve your process

The final step in measuring and improving your risk management is to learn and improve your process. You should conduct a risk audit or a lessons learned session at the end of your project, business cycle, or risk period, and identify what worked well and what didn't. You should also document your best practices, challenges, and recommendations for future improvement. You should also share your knowledge and experience with others, and incorporate your learning into your risk culture and policies.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?