Every organization has a risk register.
Some have ten.
They’re supposed to give leadership a clear view of exposure, the most important risks to the business (ranked, assessed, and regularly reviewed).
But too often? They’re just junk drawers.
Anything with even a whiff of uncertainty gets tossed in:
- A regulatory change that might happen
- A minor audit finding from 2018
- Someone’s concern from an offhand comment in a meeting
- Five different entries for “cyber risk,” each worded slightly differently
And before long, what was meant to be a sharp tool for risk-based decision-making becomes a cluttered spreadsheet no one wants to open.
More Risks ≠ Better Visibility
There’s this well-intentioned urge to log everything. After all, you don’t want to miss anything important. But the result is the opposite. When everything gets recorded, it gets harder to see what matters.
The signal-to-noise ratio drops. Risks get duplicated, left unreviewed, or filed away as “inherent” and never touched again. Reporting becomes a box-ticking exercise. And when someone actually asks, “What are our top five risks right now?” there’s no confident answer.
That’s not risk management. That’s data hoarding.
What a Good Risk Register Should Actually Do
A risk register isn’t a repository. It’s a decision-support tool.
It should be focused, curated, and designed to tell a story – one that helps leadership understand what’s most likely to disrupt key goals, where the organization is most vulnerable, and which risks are trending in the wrong direction. It should highlight what needs attention now, not just someday.
You shouldn’t be drowning in risks. You should be spotting patterns, making smart trade-offs, and adjusting course with confidence.
How to Keep the Register Lean (and Useful)
To get there, you need more than a cleanup. You need a mindset shift. Here’s how:
- 1. Define what counts as a register-worthy risk
Not every concern belongs. Set thresholds for likelihood, impact, and relevance. Push the low-level noise into issue logs or team-level trackers instead. - 2. Consolidate duplicates and group related risks
If “cyber attack,” “phishing,” and “malware” are all separate line items, you’re not managing risk, you’re managing synonyms. - 3. Make review and archival part of your process
If a risk hasn’t been updated in two years and nothing has changed, archive it. You can always bring it back if needed. - 4. Connect risks to action
If a risk has no controls, no indicators, and no plans then ask yourself “why is this here”. Risks without action aren’t risks. They’re just placeholders.
Final Thought: You Don’t Need a Longer List, You Need a Sharper One
A good risk register isn’t impressive because of how much it holds. It’s impressive because of how clearly it shows what matters.
So stop using it as a junk drawer. Make it a tool that helps your team (and your leadership) act with focus.
Want to build a risk register that actually helps you manage risk? Let’s talk.
