Eight Steps to a Risk Strategy

Developing a management strategy to reduce the public's risk means asking the right questions. The answers will inform what management processes you will have to create to mitigate risks and what you will have to fund. It's a big job, but these will get you started:

1. What risks are defined in your agency's mission statement?
2. Of these risks, which are the highest priority to mitigate?
3. How are you defining these risks?
4. How are you measuring the levels of risk?
5. For each risk, what is the highest probability you're willing to accept?
6. Is each of your agency's programs designed to reduce the risks?
7. What are the benefits and costs in each program to reduce risk to an acceptable level of probability?
8. How will you measure how well a program reduces the risks?