Overview

This best practice provides recommendations to help you create a risk and mitigation plan for your digital workplace solution.

Recommendation

Effective risk management is key to the successful planning and execution of your digital workplace initiative. Risk management is the active process of identifying, assessing, communicating and managing the risks facing an organization to ensure that the organization meets its objectives.

Risk factors

When planning your digital workplace strategy, your risk factors can be categorized into the following three distinct areas:

1. Technology

• Do you have the expertise on board to implement the design and manage the technology?
• Does your site have the bandwidth necessary to launch the solution?
• Have you examined third party integrations and how they might impact your solution?
• What impacts will language (multilingual support) have on your solution?
• What impacts will accessibility (hearing and visually impaired) have on your solution?
• Are their security implications which will affect the solution? e.g. network, physical, authentication
• Are their potential performance risks? e.g. bandwidth

2. Operational

• Do you have executive sponsors?
• Do you have the funding or financial support required to launch and maintain the solution?
• Do you have the necessary resources? e.g. staff, expertise, knowledge, time allocation
• Do you have any potential blockers?
• Are the goals and objectives achievable? Within timelines? Resource availability?

3. Cultural

• Are there any issues surrounding the demographics of your solution?  Are there any members who currently resist the adoption of the solution?
• Is the site easy to use? 
• Is it inspiring? 
• Is it fun? 
• Is useful? 
• Have you included online tips and tricks throughout the solution?
• Do you offer training to your members, including online, telephone and onsite support?
• Do you have the full support of all stakeholders and members?
• Does everyone involved see the value and potential of the solution?  

Once you have identified the risks involved with your digital workplace strategy,  you can begin to prioritize those risks to determine which ones, if any, can be mitigated immediately.