Clear, concise and consistent: how to communicate and prioritize risks from the engineering team to the wider organization

Communicating risks, particularly to our non-technical colleagues, is a challenge and by not doing it well we suffer pushback from the business. The risks are varied and at all different levels, but can include technical debt, skill gaps, team burnout, and more.

In this talk we will look at how to clearly, concisely, and consistently communicate and prioritize risks, and how to use this to negotiate plans with the wider business. We’ll look at examples from the team, the department, and the business level, and how to rollup risks through these levels.

Because of the difficulty in communicating risks, there is a risk that you will get pushback on making the changes you know are important, resulting in damage to your team and the business. Mitigation strategy: come along to this talk and get the knowledge you need to start giving risks the priority they deserve.