Speaker 1: This Basics of Risk Management series is brought to you by Risk Garage. Energizing Risk Workshop, Part 2. Facilitation Previously, we talked about the preparation required prior to a risk workshop. John has been nominated to facilitate the risk workshop for a project. And he will be assisted by Beatrice and Nelson. After sorting out the agenda, list of participants and venue, John and the team have familiarized themselves with the project via reading the necessary information, which includes project scope, risk register and risk management procedure. Any pre-read materials shall be sent to the participants at least three working days before the risk workshop. This will improve the efficiency of the workshop if the participants understand the project and the relevant risks in advance. When the day comes, John and the team arrives at the venue one to two hours before commencement of the workshop. The purpose is to ensure that the facilities like the projector and internet connection are functioning. Also, they will confirm that the layout of the workshop venue and the sitting arrangement are as per plan. If the workshop starts in the morning, breakfast shall be provided for energizing the participants. If John hasn't had chance to talk to all the participants prior to the workshop, he shall take the opportunity to have a quick chat with them. This would provide a good warm-up before they deep dive into serious risk discussion during the workshop. The workshop shall start on time. Nelson, as the timekeeper, will usher everyone into the room. After everyone has settled down, John will first get the workshop sponsor or the most senior person in the room to do a scene setting. The sponsor will briefly mention the reasons for doing the risk workshop and his expectation. The scene setting shall take less than 15 minutes. Next, John will spend around 15 to 20 minutes to do the grounding, which covers a few aspects. The first one is the quick introduction of participants, including their roles. John will ask those joining online to do introduction as well. Next, he will talk about the objectives of the risk workshop, which will define the scope to be covered in the workshop. John will also read out some ground rules for improving the effectiveness of the workshop. Another important item is the workshop agenda, which will spell out the sessions to be covered and the respective time slots. If possible, John will briefly explain the risk management process, which will provide some basic knowledge in risk identification and assessment. If John is not very familiar with the project, he will invite the project manager to give a short briefing on the project scope and status. John then can start do a short review on the current risks, preferably on the top risks, as reviewing all the risks will be too time consuming. John shall remind himself not to read word by word from risk register, as this will bore the audience. He can make the review more lively by inviting the risk owners to articulate the risks. But he has to ensure the risk owners won't get too excited by taking too much time to introduce their risks. Depending on the boundary of the risk workshop, a substantial amount of time will be spent on risk identification, and maybe risk assessment. During risk identification and assessment, John needs to ensure every participant has a fair chance to share their view. If certain participants remain quiet during the session, John shall find opportunities to invite them to talk. As the shared risk workshop is getting very common nowadays, John needs to give a fair share of time for those joining online to share their view. Some participants are vocal or have particular interest in certain risks, even if those risks have lower probabilities and low impacts. Therefore, they may spend a lot of time discussing only those risks. The facilitator would need to steer the group to the right focus in a diplomatic manner. If certain good discussion points cannot be converted to risks, John shall ask Beatrice, as the scribe, to jot them down on the flipchart for future reference. Also, at the end of each session, it is advisable to summarise the discussion points. Beatrice can quickly read what she has recorded to the participants, and any missing points can be added. During the risk workshop, short breaks shall be provided at intervals to rejuvenate the participants with snacks and drinks. A risk workshop could last a day. John needs to stay focused and has positive body language in order to keep the participants engaged. The attendees can feel whether John is keen to understand the risks from them via his body language. Whenever he feels that the energy level in the room is reducing, John can make some jokes or play games to keep the participants awake and engaged. Before ending the workshop, John shall ask the participants if they feel the objectives have been met. All the actions recorded must be agreed by the action owners. Running a risk workshop is not always smooth sailing. There are a few pitfalls that John must be beware of. Pitfall number one. To avoid having heated argument with the participants when things go not as planned. John needs to remind himself that he doesn't own the risks, and his responsibility is to steer and facilitate the risk discussion. With this mindset, he will just need to encourage the participants to do a thorough discussion on the risks they will own. Pitfall number two. Don't get personally involved in any conflict between the participants. John needs to stay neutral and focus on what you understand from the argument, and prevent from making any judgment. Do remind those involved of the ground rules, like respect and allow people to speak. Maybe it's a right time to have a short break before continuing the session. Hope you have gained some good tips on facilitating risk workshop. If you have any constructive comments, please share with us. Thank you, and see you again.