When you hear the words "compliance program assessment" or "risk assessment," you may think of in-person executive interviews, face-to-face focus groups, and on-site reviews of materials, controls, and documents. But like so many other aspects of compliance programs this year, assessments have had to adapt to a remote work environment.

If you’re considering undergoing a program or risk assessment, we have great news: you can — and should — conduct them remotely!

In our latest Zoom Chat, Andrea and Suzan discuss what remote assessments look like and share strategies for making them successful.

As Andrea says:

“We would recommend organizations not be afraid to undergo assessment work — whether it’s risk assessment, program assessment, policy assessment, whatever it may be — in this time. And in fact, in some ways, it’s a little bit easier.”

While working with clients to conduct compliance assessments of various sorts, we’ve found that it’s often easier to get a group together over video than in person, without any added travel expenses. Remote employees have gotten more comfortable with video calls this year, which means that companies are able to conduct interviews and focus groups remotely while still reading facial expressions and body language as they would in person.

Video calls on platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams also make it easier to conduct both top-down and bottom-up assessments, which are crucial to getting an accurate picture of your program, policies, and risks. Just ask Andrea.

“No organization has a true sense of what their risk profile looks like, or a true sense of how well their program has been implemented and the impact the program is having, unless you talk to the people that are actually the most subjected to the risks and the programmatic elements.”

(If you’re curious to learn more about Andrea’s approach to assessments, read her blog post about measuring impact with a top-down AND a bottom-up approach here.)

Compliance assessments, whether conducted remotely or in-person, are a key part of understanding your organization’s unique risks and how well your program and policies are performing. If you’re ready to get the biggest bang for your assessment buck, our Advisory Services team can help. Reach out to us at hello@rethinkcomplianceco.com to set up a free consultation.