Feature
PRACTICE
Building rapport BY TOM CLARE
While technical knowledge is essential in risk management, getting engagement within teams and with stakeholders is critical for success
T
hroughout my career, and in conversations with other risk managers, I’ve often heard that when we’re at our most successful we seem to be adopting the role of the counsellor for the team. Perhaps there’s more to it than a joke among colleagues? Getting engagement across our teams requires you to develop rapport with a diverse group of stakeholders quickly. For instance, to address potentially stressful and/or challenging subjects, understanding a problem, and reflecting what you’re hearing, in a way that helps brings people together to understand and contribute, is how we can respond to threats or opportunities. I’ve received the benefit of an excellent counselling
Enterprise Risk
relationship in my personal life. During this time, I have also studied to become a qualified coach and mentor through the Institute of Leadership and Management. This has got me thinking that perhaps counselling, coaching and mentoring typecompetencies are critical for us to develop and refine, to help unlock the benefits of an effective risk management process.
Counselling, coaching, mentoring A range of definitions exist for all these roles, but they tend to focus on working with clients, being a trusted contact and using tools and techniques to help promote change and for their clients to navigate problems or concerns. Sound familiar?
Consider a risk manager. We must identify, evaluate, help ensure responses are implemented and regularly evaluate the success of an activity. Along with this, we are often charged with training and developing the organisation’s understanding in risk management and suggesting ways to mature or develop the approach we take. To deliver any of these, we need to interact, build relationships, reflect opinions back and foster an environment where people want to share information with you – or it will be incredibly difficult to provide your value as a risk manager. What’s key to this? Developing rapport.
Rapport Rapport is the foundation of an effective relationship between 16
