Risk-Based Operational Decision Making Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Operations Managers, Risk Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-RM-082

Before you join: Participants should have at least two years of experience in operations, finance, risk, compliance, audit, procurement or a related control function.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Operational decisions routinely involve uncertain cash flows, supplier performance, technology reliability, regulatory obligations, fraud exposure and service continuity. Managers must decide whether to approve exceptions, change processes, accept third-party dependencies, release funds or continue operations during disruption. Poor decisions often result from unclear risk appetite, incomplete evidence, weak challenge, or failure to distinguish acceptable risk from risk requiring escalation. This course gives participants a disciplined approach for making defensible operational decisions under uncertainty.

Participants learn to connect operational objectives, risk appetite, controls and decision rights. They apply ISO 31000 and COSO ERM principles to identify risks, assess likelihood and impact, determine control effectiveness, and select proportionate treatments. The course covers risk and control self-assessments, scenario analysis, risk-adjusted option appraisal, key risk indicators, incident learning, issue escalation and management reporting. Participants also practise presenting recommendations that state assumptions, residual risk, financial implications, accountable owners and required approvals.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with financial-services, public-sector, manufacturing and NGO operating cases. Participants work through risk registers, control failures, supplier disruptions, payment exceptions and operational loss scenarios. Group discussions and simulations build judgement in situations where evidence is incomplete and stakeholders hold competing priorities. Each participant leaves with a reusable risk-based decision pack containing a decision template, risk assessment model, control review checklist, escalation matrix, key risk indicator specification and 90-day application plan.

The course is suited to managers and specialists who make, review or support operational decisions with financial, compliance, service-delivery or control consequences. It is particularly relevant where decisions must be documented, challenged and approved through formal governance arrangements.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply ISO 31000 principles to structure operational risk decisions
  • Define risk appetite, tolerance and escalation thresholds for operational activities
  • Conduct risk and control self-assessments using evidence-based scoring criteria
  • Evaluate decision options using residual risk, cost, benefit and scenario analysis
  • Design key risk indicators with thresholds, owners and response actions
  • Assess control design and operating effectiveness using a control testing approach
  • Prepare decision papers that document assumptions, trade-offs and approval requirements
  • Develop a 90-day plan for embedding risk-based decision practices

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make operational recommendations supported by explicit risk and control evidence
  • Recognise when residual risk requires escalation rather than local acceptance
  • Write clearer approval papers with quantified assumptions and accountable owners
  • Challenge weak controls and unsupported risk ratings constructively
  • Transfer a practical risk-based decision process to current responsibilities

For your organisation

  • Improves consistency of operational approvals, exceptions and risk acceptances
  • Reduces losses from poorly assessed process, supplier and control changes
  • Strengthens first-line ownership of risks, controls and remediation actions
  • Produces clearer management information for risk committees and senior approvers
  • Creates auditable decision records linking appetite, evidence and accountability

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can frame operational decisions using objectives, uncertainty, accountability and risk criteria.

  • Operational decisions distinguished from strategic, tactical and routine process choices
  • ISO 31000 principles applied to value creation and protection
  • Decision objectives, constraints and stakeholders defined before risk assessment
  • Uncertainty sources classified as internal, external, controllable or uncontrollable
  • Three lines model clarifies ownership, oversight and assurance responsibilities
  • Decision rights mapped through RACI and delegated authority limits

Participants can translate organisational risk appetite into operational limits and escalation triggers.

  • Risk appetite statements linked to operational objectives and performance measures
  • Tolerance ranges distinguish normal variation from unacceptable exposure
  • Thresholds set for financial loss, service disruption and compliance breaches
  • Risk acceptance authorities aligned with delegation of authority schedules
  • Escalation triggers designed for threshold breaches and emerging exposures
  • Risk capacity assessed against capital, liquidity, resources and legal constraints

Participants can identify operational risks, causes, events and consequences systematically.

  • Process mapping identifies handoffs, failure points and control dependencies
  • Risk breakdown structures organise people, process, technology and external risks
  • Bow-tie analysis separates threats, preventive controls and recovery controls
  • Five Whys exposes underlying causes behind recurring operational failures
  • Cause-event-impact statements produce clear and testable risk descriptions
  • Stakeholder interviews capture frontline knowledge, exceptions and workarounds

Participants can assess inherent and residual risk using consistent qualitative and quantitative criteria.

  • Inherent risk scored before considering existing controls or mitigations
  • Likelihood scales calibrated using frequency, exposure and historical evidence
  • Impact criteria cover financial, regulatory, customer and operational consequences
  • Risk matrices used cautiously to avoid false precision and ranking distortions
  • Residual risk ratings reflect control design and operating effectiveness
  • FMEA prioritises failure modes through severity, occurrence and detection scores
  • Risk velocity measures how quickly an event could affect objectives

Participants can evaluate whether controls prevent, detect or correct operational risk events.

  • Preventive, detective and corrective controls matched to specific risk causes
  • Control objectives define the required result before selecting activities
  • COSO ERM links governance, performance, review and information
  • Control design assessment tests whether activities address identified risks
  • Operating effectiveness testing examines evidence, frequency and exception handling
  • Segregation of duties analysed for approval, custody and recording conflicts
  • Control gaps documented with owners, due dates and interim safeguards

Participants can compare operational options using financial impact, residual risk and decision criteria.

  • Decision criteria weighted for cost, service, compliance and risk
  • Expected monetary value compares alternatives under uncertain loss scenarios
  • Scenario analysis tests base, adverse and severe operational assumptions
  • Sensitivity analysis identifies assumptions that materially change recommendations
  • Cost-benefit analysis includes control costs, avoided losses and residual exposure
  • Risk treatment options compare avoid, reduce, transfer and accept choices
  • Decision trees clarify contingent actions, probabilities and outcome values

Participants can design risk indicators that support timely operational intervention.

  • Key risk indicators distinguish exposure measures from performance measures
  • Indicator selection starts with causal drivers and credible data sources
  • Thresholds set using appetite, tolerance, trend and control capacity
  • Leading indicators identify deteriorating conditions before loss events occur
  • Lagging indicators quantify realised losses, breaches and service failures
  • Data quality checks test completeness, timeliness, accuracy and ownership
  • Risk dashboards present trends, breaches, actions and accountable owners

Participants can make risk-informed decisions during incidents and convert lessons into control improvements.

  • Incident classification determines severity, notification and response responsibilities
  • Initial impact assessment covers customers, cash, data and regulatory obligations
  • Business continuity priorities set recovery objectives and minimum service levels
  • Crisis decision logs record facts, assumptions, actions and approvals
  • Root cause analysis separates triggering events from systemic weaknesses
  • Lessons learned convert incident findings into tracked remediation actions
  • Operational loss data supports trend analysis and control investment decisions

Participants can assess supplier, outsourcing and change risks before operational commitments are approved.

  • Supplier due diligence assesses financial stability, capability and control maturity
  • Third-party risk assessments address concentration, data, continuity and compliance
  • Contractual controls specify service levels, audit rights and incident notification
  • Change impact assessments identify affected processes, controls and stakeholders
  • Pre-implementation risk reviews test readiness, dependencies and fallback arrangements
  • Residual supplier risk documented before approval, acceptance or escalation
  • Exit plans address transition costs, data return and service continuity

Participants can document, communicate and embed risk-based operational decisions within governance processes.

  • Decision papers state recommendation, evidence, options and residual risk
  • Assumptions registers distinguish verified facts from management judgement
  • Approval routes matched to authority limits and risk acceptance thresholds
  • Management reports connect risk indicators, incidents and treatment progress
  • Constructive challenge tests optimism bias, conflicts and unsupported conclusions
  • Audit trails preserve decision rationale, approvals and follow-up commitments
  • Ninety-day application plans assign priorities, sponsors and success measures

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Risk-based operational decision template
  2. Risk appetite and escalation matrix
  3. Risk and control self-assessment worksheet
  4. Control effectiveness review checklist
  5. Key risk indicator specification sheet
  6. Ninety-day implementation plan

Who should attend

  • Operations Managers — make service, process and exception decisions with control consequences
  • Risk Managers — strengthen first-line risk assessments and escalation discipline
  • Finance Managers — assess financial exposure within operational investment and approval decisions
  • Internal Auditors — evaluate decision evidence, control design and residual risk
  • Compliance Managers — connect regulatory obligations to operational decision controls
  • Procurement and Vendor Managers — assess third-party risk before supplier commitments

Skills and tools covered

Risk appetite settingControl effectiveness assessmentScenario analysisDecision paper writingKey risk indicatorsOperational loss analysis

Tools and standards

ISO 31000, COSO ERM, FMEA, Bow-tie analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by structured case work drawn from operational loss, payment, supplier, compliance and service-continuity situations. Participants analyse decision evidence, score risks, test controls, compare treatment options and draft approval recommendations in small groups. Simulations require participants to respond to changing information, challenge assumptions and escalate decisions against stated thresholds. Facilitated reviews connect each method to participants' own processes, governance forums and current operational risks. The final application planning session converts learning into defined workplace actions.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least two years of experience in operations, finance, risk, compliance, audit, procurement or a related control function. They should be familiar with routine business approvals, operational procedures and basic financial concepts such as cost, budget, cash flow or loss. Experience with risk registers, control testing or formal enterprise risk management is useful but not essential. The course does not require advanced statistics, programming, prior certification, audit qualifications or specialist knowledge of financial derivatives. Participants should be ready to discuss decisions from their own work context.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need practical exposure to business operations, finance, risk, compliance, audit or procurement decisions. Familiarity with basic controls and approval processes is helpful, but prior risk management certification or advanced quantitative knowledge is not required.

Participants should bring a laptop if available and examples of non-confidential operational decisions, risk registers or approval processes they wish to improve. Course materials, templates and case information are provided.

The course is designed for managers and specialists who approve, analyse, challenge or document operational decisions. It is especially useful for first-line operations, finance, risk, compliance, internal audit, procurement and vendor management roles.

Enterprise risk management courses often focus on organisation-wide frameworks, governance and reporting. This course concentrates on decisions made within operational processes, including exceptions, controls, suppliers, incidents, process changes and approval papers.

Participants can use the decision template, assessment worksheet and escalation matrix for active approvals or process changes. The methods also support clearer risk committee papers, control reviews and remediation planning.

The five days provide approximately 32.5 contact hours, typically from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group application, decision simulations, facilitated review and workplace action planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Risk Management

Risk Management Advanced Enterprise Risk Management Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Risk Champion Masterclass Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Risk Management Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Risk Management and Internal Controls Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Risk Management for Projects and Operations Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Risk, Control and Compliance Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Risk Management SAP Treasury and Risk Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Risk Management Transportation Risk Assessment and Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov