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Using Risk Metalanguage

Risk management is the process of identifying, accepting, analyzing, and prioritizing on positive or negative risks. It occurs whenever financial managers try to place assets of the company. It, therefore, helps them to be able to respond effectively as it gives the views about uncertainties in the future trends.

Workshop goals

– Expounding on risk management.

Workshop objectives

– Identifying, rationalizing, assessment, categorizing nominating the risk owners and risk metalanguages

Presenters

Introduction and icebreakers help participants get to know each other, cultivate togetherness and the feeling of being a community right from the time the meeting starts. These are basic things like everyone saying his/her personal data, introducing some of the facilitators, and giving a brief overview of risk management as per his/her understanding.

Brainstorming would involve giving the participants a chance to speak and give out what each of them knows. For an effective brainstorming, one needs to know and understand how human brain operates, and manipulate it to get ready optimized information. On that workshop, I would start by dividing people into groups of five to ten, find a comfortable and silent location for each group, and ensure there is someone who can direct the session in each group. During this session, I would introduce the case study to them, giving each of the participant a copy of it and guiding questions related to what will be covered during the workshop for them to analyze. After some minute of being in the group, we would gather as a group again in one hall. I will then separate each group in such way that there will be no two members of the same group sitting together. From there, I can introduce a negative thing of what I expect during workshop like John Browne being the best manager in the company and how his retirement would have affected the company. This would make people start talking and sharing ideas. However, after an appropriate timing, I would shift gears the other way and let everyone discuss why Browne was a bad manager who never managed risks with naming or explaining the various ways he failed the company. To avoid one figure dominating the front, I can rotate the group representatives to come in front, and present what they got as a group and then ask the other member of congregation to add to his points. (Berkun, 2004).

 It’s very basic and important to introduce Workshop basic rules as a part of orientation to participants because all of them are assumed to be very new in the area. It will, therefore, set the code of conduct expected from the participant, inform them where they can find special facilities like hotel or loo, and it enlightens of activities that may expose them to certain risk in the area of workshop. It will also outline the guiding rules and regulation to abide to when in workshop.

Risk metalanguage is special risk term that is used in helping understand risks easier. Metalanguage of risk is a three-part description of a cause-risk-effect (Burek, 2009). It begins by giving out the cause that is involved, followed by stating the risks and then, the effects are given. According to Dr. David Hillson (2006), one needs to use metalanguage to understand, describe, and identify risks, which would ensure appropriate risk responses.

 Using the case study, British Petroleum (PLC) and John Browne: A Culture of Risk Beyond (2008), we say it is because of poor management and fake leadership, inadequate communication, and over concentrating on production than safety, explosion was likely to occur which would lead to deaths, destruction of infrastructure, and huge loss to the company. In addition, it is for the reason of poor maintenance practices, irresponsible workers, the thinning of pipes occurred, and the insulators became corroded that eventually cause explosion in the firm. Moreover, since the firm had poor security measures that were not global to its other branches, all the branches had no idea of the risks they face and it resulted in some disciplines in many firms not operating, deviations from the practices that were deemed as safe, and failures to observe the basic safety regulations.

From the case study, the participants will learn that risk management involves handling the current risks, projecting the future ones, and planning on various ways to mitigate them. It includes assessing risk, the probability of the risks happening, and the impact it will have on the ones it hits (Douglas, 2009). As per the case study, the managers are not involved in any risk management task, and despite the various signs of an accident they do not take any measure to prevent it until they are hit. These actually help in grouping risks for easier analysis and acting on them as soon as they are detected (ISO/DIS 31000, 2009). Afterwards, one has to report and write the various suggestions of handling the risk to those facing them.

The holders of the workshop may offer the closing speech, do self-evaluation, give out certificate and thank the participants.