Managing risk and uncertainty

We live in interesting and uncertain times. Often it seems that there's nothing we can do about it – the environment changes in an unpredictable way and we have to react to whatever comes up. For this reasons, to many people, uncertainty about the future is seen as a curse – we'd like to continue doing things the way we always did. But for others it is an opportunity – maybe the future doesn't have to be like the past, and those who wait to react are likely to be left behind. 

This section provides tools and information on how to effectively manage uncertainty and plan for success. 

• The New Start Learning Network 'Dealing with Uncertainty' toolkit  - aimed at third sector organisations dealing with the current economic challenges. This brand new toolkit, written by Stuart Thompson, provides a detailed and thorough workplan to help you cope with and plan for whatever challenges your organisation may face. It will show you how to structure your organisation and systems to make your organisation more resilient, even when you don’t know the timing or nature of external risks. 

The toolkit is for unlimited usage by Homeless Link staff and for distribution of the toolkit to all our members as a resource that they can use.  The toolkit is being made available to them thanks to Homeless Link’s purchase of a licence.  Members are welcome to distribute it freely within their organisations but not externally.

• Scenario planning tools - Scenario Planning is a technique to enable organisations to identify the most important issues and make long term plans by understanding the nature and impact of external forces and to plan strategically. Scenario planning assumes that the future can differ greatly from what we know today. This planning allows organisations to test how robust they are with respect to future change, identify areas which require investment and generate ideas for future development. There are a number of tools organisations can use to assist them in this process.