Chris Fenning explains why mixing risks and issues confuses your audience. Risks are possible future events you can prevent or mitigate. Issues are current problems that need immediate action. Treating them differently keeps people focused on what actually matters.
How to talk about risks, tip number 9, clearly separate risks from issues. When we communicate at work, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether somebody is talking about a current problem or a problem that might occur in the future. And when we're not sure which is which, whether we're talking about a risk, a risk or an issue, then we aren't sure how to respond or how urgent it is to respond. So when you're communicating about risks, make sure that you separate them from issues. If you don't do this, the audience might start reacting as though the risk is a current event, and they may take action that they don't need to. Alternatively, they may believe an issue is actually a risk and not take action when you need them to take it right now. So how do you differentiate between a risk and an issue? If whatever you're talking about is occurring right now, it's an issue. If there's a guaranteed— if it's guaranteed to happen in the future, it's an issue. So when you're talking, make it clear that you're talking about something that might happen. That's a risk. Say that this is something that might happen in the future. That makes it clear that it's a risk and not an issue. When you do this, your audience is better prepared to think about what you're talking about as a risk and to begin to think about what to do about it, whether they want to prevent it, mitigate it, avoid the risk, and so on. So when you're talking about risks, make sure you clearly separate the risks from the issues.
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