Let us face it; risk is an inherent part of any venture, be it the creation of an elearning course, a business or even a personal project. They say, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs,” and while I may not be a great cook myself, I tend to agree with it. However, in business (as in life), not everything is as predictable as making an omelet, which brings us to corporate risk.

Understanding risk

Risk, in theoretical terms, is the result of a prevision of probability and impact. Think of it this way: when assessing the possible outcome of a situation, you ask yourself what you stand to gain or lose and the chances of any of those outcomes to come true. The higher the probability or impact, the higher the risk. The following table shows the result:

table of risk impact
You can apply this method to any situation! It is just a matter of adjusting your metrics. The coloured cells are the risk scores. To assign a risk score, you can base yourself on measurable information, like passed statistics and dollar amounts. For example, a financial impact of 50$-100$ could be considered low, while 100$-500$ and 1000$+ could be considered medium and high, respectively.

Lowering your Risk

Corporate risk, or at least some amount of it, is inevitable. There are, however, many ways to reduce the risk of any given endeavour. A few examples:

  • Make sure the desired outcome is worthwhile enough to offset the risk to an acceptable level
  • Train your people in risk understanding and management
  • Get an insurance

One more good piece of advice would be to externalize certain aspects of your risk management and use the solutions offered by a reputable Service Provider. For certain elements, by entrusting your data to a provider with solid security and compliance practices, you greatly reduce the associated risk (and cost!) related to your project. Among other things, your Service Provider can ensure that:

  • Backups are made regularly and kept secure
  • Only authorized personnel have access to your project files
  • Offer multi-zone data hosting in case of natural disaster
  • Protect your project’s systems against hacking attempts

For these reasons, choosing a trustworthy and reputed Service Provider is a crucial step and should never be overlooked.

You always want the best “bang for your buck,” and understanding the risks you face is one of the best ways to achieve that. After all, knowing that the eggs need to break is the first step in making an omelet.

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Nicolas Labonté

Author:
Nicolas Labonté

Systems Quality Control Specialist & Researcher @KnowledgeOne. Tech Jack-of-all-trades. Passionate DIY-ist. Full-time solution-finder. To understand is to appreciate.