A key part of a successful Risk Management program is establishing a mechanism for accurate and effective Risk Assessments. Assessments come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common is the risk assessment workshop. A successful risk assessment can contribute extensively to an organization’s ability to capitalize on events as they occur. A poorly run risk assessment is very inefficient and can result in an unfocused approach to risk mitigation.
A workshop format enables participants to both contribute and learn in a natural environment. The result is not only a ranked list of key risks, but a fascinating discussion about the control environment, risk appetite, and individual risk tolerances. As stakeholders walk away from the session their understanding of business operations, objectives and challenges has expanded and they are equipped with the knowledge and the detailed analysis to make improved business decisions.
Key Benefits of a Well-Run Risk Assessment Workshop
- A prioritized list of risks
- Assigned action plans for each risk
- Discussion of risks by stakeholders
- Consensus about relative importance of risks among stakeholders
- Awareness of different viewpoints
- Understanding of where current control activities exceed risk appetite
Resolver Ballot is the world’s most popular workshop risk assessment software tool, and that’s no idle claim!
- 8 out of 10 of the top global accounting firms use Resolver Ballot with their clients for risk assessments.
- Hundreds of companies in over 40 countries around the world use Resolver Ballot to quickly and effectively assess risks in an anonymous fashion.
Resolver Ballot helps a risk manager quickly collect information from key stakeholders without the normal inefficiencies and inaccuracies that emerge from group decision making. By using anonymous voting, participants can honestly express their opinions which then results in an improved debate. Our clients tell us that this helps them improve the consistency and quality of their risk workshops, and overall results in better decisions. For more information on Resolver Ballot, click here.
| Feature | Benefit |
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Anonymous Voting |
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| Votes are captured either from a wireless keypad, mobile phone, or computer. | Anonymous votes allow participants to honestly and candidly express their opinions, even in a room where their view is not popular. |
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Rapid, pre-built Reports |
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| Ballot contains over 15 different commonly used Risk Management and Decision making reports, including Heatmaps, Bubble Charts, Voter distributions and many more. | Save time with pre-built industry standard reports. All reports are generated live with voting data, so analysis and discussion can occur immediately after or even during the voting. |
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Remote Voting |
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| Vote using iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android or any computer. | No need for specialized hardware. Include remote participants who cannot travel to the meeting. Vote on any web enabled device and get the same benefit as in-room participation. |
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Live Discussions |
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| Participants are presented with strategic objectives, one at a time on their computer or tablet. They anonymously type in potential risk events that could prevent that objective from being realized. The groups’ answers are displayed in real-time | Unlike a traditional survey, live discussions enable participants to brainstorm together but anonymously. Each participant can see the risks other type in and build off of, or respond to those inputs. |
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Risks Don’t Occur in Isolation! |
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| Ballot contains a feature call Relationship Modeling. Using paired comparison Ballot generates a map of the relationships between topics or risks. | This model can demonstrate the interconnection between risks and enable the group or risk manager to see the way each risk event impacts another. This has particular value when the vote (impact or likelihood) is overlaid on top of the model. |
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Configurable Heatmap |
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| Ballot features a powerful and configurable risk heatmap to display voting results. The heatmap can be used to quickly plot Impact, Likelihood, Control Effectiveness and more. | The heatmap is designed for presentation to Sr Management or the Board, so they’ll look great, export easily to your presentation, and you’ll save an enormous amount of time compared to building your own heatmaps. |
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Multi Series Charting |
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| Built into the heatmap, bar chart and line chart is the ability to plot multiple series and compare their values. | Use multiple series to demonstrate the difference between inherent and residual risk, or to compare Risk to Control Effectiveness, or contrast current assessments against risk tolerance or risk appetite. |
“[GRC Cloud] documents and structures material very well…giving us a very comprehensive database. For every risk we identify and record we also look at the mitigations, which can either be through pre-existing controls…or an action plan to mitigate the risk. Here, we can apply target completion dates, and interrogate the system and check on dates as they come due. We have enough flexibility.” - John Fraser, Senior Vice President, Internal Audit and Chief Risk officer of Hydro One Networks Inc. |
“The new online version of Resolver Ballot Voting software worked flawlessly and impressed our workshop participants with the speed and efficiency. It also fit in well with our firm’s recent introduction of using iPads for meetings” - Michael Murphy, Director, Internal Audit & Enterprise Risk, Enersource. |