10 PRINCIPLES OF RISK WORKSHOP FACILITATION PART 2: THE LAST FIVE
SHANNON GUNDERMAN, CPCU, ARM, AIS, CWCP
Administrative Services Director of Yuma County, Arizona
- Encourage Active Participation – Most workshops have one or two people that are hesitant to be involved because they are uncomfortable expressing themselves in a group setting. However, history has shown that many major discoveries and advances in human knowledge have come from introverts, so make every effort to help them join the discussion. Be careful that your efforts do not lead to embarrassment; kindly and respectfully invite participation and warmly commend responsiveness.
- Ask Questions – Effective questions stimulate discussion, provide valuable feedback to the facilitator, encourage innovative thinking, and lead to important risk and opportunity discoveries. Use them often and judiciously.
- Foster Communication – One of the major benefits of effective implementation of ERM using ISO 31000 is the enhancement of intradepartmental and interdepartmental communication. Such communication breaks down silos and leads to enterprise efficiencies and cooperation. Highlight this point emphatically and regularly.
- Keep Focused – The great thing about an effective workshop is that it gets creative juices flowing. However, if creativity is not properly focused it will become an obstacle by bogging down the workshop with too much extraneous discussion. Your job as the facilitator is to encourage creative discussion but also to redirect the discussion if it veers too far off course.
- Emphasize ISO 31000 Principles – If you are conducting an ISO 31000 risk workshop, consider yourself a pioneer in the field of risk management! Be proud of your passion for and knowledge of the standard and direct your participants’ attention to it as often as possible!
Do you host risk workshops at your entity? If so, what are some of the techniques you employ to make sure that they are successful?
By: SHANNON GUNDERMAN, CPCU, ARM, AIS, CWCP
Administrative Services Director of Yuma County, Arizona
SUMMARY OF QUALIFACTIONS
More than 15 years of public sector risk management experience | More than 17 years of legal experience | More than 22 years of public speaking experience
RESPONSIBILITIES
As the administratrive services director, Shannon oversees Yuma County’s property, liability, unemployment, and workers’ compensation programs. Additionally, he is responsible for insuring the County’s real and personal business property assets with a value of over $300 million. He also manages three separate annual budgets totaling over $4 million. Shannon directs the County’s loss control, safety, and privacy programs to assure compliance with OSHA, HIPAA, ADA and other regulatory requirements and supervises the Conflict Administrator’s Office which assigns legal counsel to indigent criminal defendants. He also serves as the County’s Privacy Officer and its ADA Title II Coordinator.
BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
During his service in Yuma County Administration, Shannon transitioned the County from a commercially insured to self-insured workers’ compensation program, which saved taxpayers nearly $300,000 in its first year of operation. He introduced and championed a pain management program that reduced the number of workers’ compensation claims, reduced the use of prescription medication in the County’s self-funded health insurance program, reduced worker absences, and improved morale. He created financial formulas to determine the amount of premium to charge each County budget in order to fund the County’s self-insurance program and developed the method of premium allocation; this procedure gave more predictability to the budgetary process and improved the County’s accountability in financial audits. His subrogation efforts recovered over $650,000 in County funds. Prior to joining County Administration in 2005, Shannon worked for six years as a paralegal and risk manager with the County Attorney where he assisted attorneys in the practice of the following areas of law: Contract and Agency, Administrative, Civil Rights, Property Tax, Torts, Premises Liability, Employment Practices, and Criminal. Before his career in public service, Shannon spent two years in the private sector as a paralegal with a bankruptcy law firm where he gained an extensive knowledge in the filing of Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies.
ERM EXPERIENCE
After several years of discussions, meetings, education, and departmental outreach, Shannon was able to convince Yuma County leadership to support the development and implementation of an enterprise risk management program. He is now the County’s ERM project manager and serves as a leading member of both the County’s Enterprise Risk Committee and Enterprise Risk Development Team.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
PRIMA – Public Risk Management Association
RIMS – Risk and Insurance Management Society
ACIP – Arizona Counties Insurance Pool
EDUCATION
Certified Public Manager, Arizona State University
Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, American Institute for CPCU
Associate in Risk Management, Insurance Institute of America
Associate in Insurance Services, Insurance Institute of America
Certified Workers’ Compensation Professional, Michigan State University
Certified Paralegal, National Association of Legal Assistants
Certificate in Paralegal Studies, University of Arizona
Certificate in Mediation, Institute for Conflict Management
