ALL ABOUT RISK

Many idioms like the ones below have been said:

1.????? Be on safe side – Meaning – Do not take any risks

2.????? Be Wrapped in a cotton wool – Meaning – Keep yourself very safe

3.????? Keep your head down – Meaning - Do not draw attention to yourself

And so on and on. But this is not about the English Language or your risk taking capability.

It highlights the importance of understanding risks and how to create a template for managing it. Broadly speaking we will cover the following -

1.????? Risk is omnipresent?

2.????? Why is the risk awareness essential for management?

3.????? Planning - How can we manage risk in a better way ?

OMNIPRESENCE

Imagine you are driving a car driving from Dubai to Abu Dhabi at a speed of 120 Km per hour. It is a straight road and you are within the speed limits prescribed by the Road Transport Authority. The car is made by a German Company known for its quality standards. Surprised as to how this can be a question linked to the Risk Management.

Let us analyse what kind of risks could emerge

• ?????Gas - Is there enough gas in the car?
• ?????Maintenance - Is the car machinery working properly?
• ???? Driver- Is the car being driven by the right driver?
• ?????Route - Does the driver knows the way?
• ???? Works - Are there any diversions on the road?
• ?????Accident - What if the tyre gets a puncture?
• ??? Unforeseen - What if we face a traffic jam on the way?
• ????Unforeseen -What if a driver, in a different lane, crosses into my lane without any indication?

Etc. etc. so many such scenarios can be presented to demonstrate that even a task that may seem simple will require to be managed in terms of risks. Now extrapolate it to your home, your office and you will realize that we need to be aware of the risks that surrounds us or the risks our actions may lead to.

RISK IS OMNIPRESENT

AWARENESS

Now that we know that the risk is omnipresent and that we have to live with it every day of our life – questions arises why waste time pondering over the same?

I will say why not? Just because you know that there is a probability of an event happening it does not mean that you will stop planning for the event.

That is why every time

• ???? The air hostess explains the emergency procedures to you before the aircraft takes off,
• ????? You are advised to wear a life jacket when we go for a boat ride.

Whether one adheres or listens to all that is being told – it is the duty of the person in charge to let you know as to what is expected in case the unforeseen happens. She is trained and prepared to handle the risks. Further it is their responsibility to prepare the persons around them, to handle any eventuality, should it happen.

All that the advice – as above - does is to make people aware and alert, that, should anything unforeseen happen, they need not panic. They should follow the procedure and as a result their chances of survival will be higher. So rather than being reactive to the instance you are better prepared and proactive.

Another example will be that of a Country’s army. The Country never wants to go to a war but they have an army. The army trains every day and draws out various scenarios. The soldiers are kept in a battle ready mode - should a situation arise, they are ready to face the challenge. Imagine a scenario of bulging waistlines and tired looking people fighting on the battleground – they are surely going to lose the battle.

ALWAYS BE READY TO MANAGE ANY UNCERTAINITY.

PLANNING

Now that we know that the risk is omnipresent and it has to be managed, I would like to draw your attention as to how to manage the risk.

As the Japanese would say answer these questions and you will invariably find the answers to all the questions:

1.????? Who?

2.????? What?

3.????? Where?

4.????? When?

5.????? Why?

6.????? How?

Who will manage the risk?

What will be the risk?

Where is the risk management to be done?

When can the risk arise?

Why will the risk arise?

How do you manage the risk?

This is not a rocket science. It is easy if we act diligently and with common sense visualize various scenarios and proactively work towards the responses in those scenarios – prepare a toolkit.

How do you make a tool kit for yourself – well consider some of the pointers below and you will have your answer:

You can further identify the risk on a Green, Yellow or Red basis – meaning low, moderate, high risk. This will help you in focusing on the right kind of threats at the initial stages, make plan to control them and then proceed to the Yellow and then the Green ones

CONCLUSION – EVERYTHING CANNOT BE CONTROLLED

In conclusion we can say is that it is for our own interest to identify the risks and plan for managing / mitigating them in a way that it causes minimum disruption.Not everything can be managed but we can be prepared for what comes at us.While the above note was to help you all understand the concept and provide you with a template that can be used, it will be pertinent to point out that, there is no one size fits all. You can create your own template / worksheet as long as it helps you in identifying and managing those risks.

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LEARN TO MANAGE IT AS EVERYTHING CANNOT BE CONTROLLED.