Strategic Risk Assessment

Government of Canada

In late 2016, senior management at a federal department needed to identify and rank regional risks to present to the Regional Director General. The timeline was just five days — far too short for conventional workshops or lengthy meetings.

Officials required a process that balanced speed, integrity, and transparency.

87%
participation rate

22+

comments

Approach

The process was structured in two stages:

Stage 1 – Initial Review:

Participants rated the importance of existing risks for inclusion.

They could also comment and propose new risks.

Stage 2 – Ranking & Evaluation:

Refined list of risks was rated on three criteria: impact, likelihood, practicality.

Participants could again weigh in on new risks.

The Ethelo platform combined qualitative commentary with quantitative scoring, creating an auditable trail and equal participation opportunities.

Results

The Ethelo engagement proved a highly efficient way to gather input;

87% participation rate, ensuring representation of senior managers.

22 comments recorded, with replies fostering dialogue.

Average completion time under 10 minutes per participant.

Final risk shortlist generated within the five-day deadline.

Impact

The process demonstrated the value of digital collaboration in high-stakes risk assessments. Ethelo enabled managers to share insights efficiently while producing results that were both defensible and transparent. Participant feedback highlighted ease of use:

“Easy! Thanks!”
“It really did take less than 10 minutes.”
“This is a very efficient tool for collecting input for this exercise.”

The successful pilot suggested a scalable model for future strategic risk processes.

“I have enjoyed the process of setting this up and using Ethelo. I love efficiency!”

– Sponsoring senior manager.