Controls Design and Controls Assurance

This hands-on training dives into designing effective control systems and ensuring they work as intended. You’ll learn how to create controls that align with your organisation’s goals and assess their effectiveness to keep everything running smoothly. Ideal for risk managers, auditors, and compliance pros, this course combines practical exercises with expert insights to help you master the art of controls. Boost your skills and enhance your organisation’s risk management strategy—enroll today and get ahead. 

Key topics covered:

1. The purpose and value of controls and controls management

• The value add of controls management

• Key objectives of controls and controls management

• Controls as enablers 

2. What are risks, treatments and controls?

• Understanding objectives and critical processes

• Components of risk

• Introduction to the risk bow tie method

• Treatment methods 

3. Types of controls and control frameworks

• Types of control classifications

• Benefits of control classifications

• Control taxonomies

• What is and is not a control

• Introduction to control frameworks 

4. How controls modify risk

• Measures of risk

• Side effects of controls

• How different types of controls modify risk
   

5. Measuring controls

• Difference between effectiveness of individual controls and

• Groups of controls

• Key elements to determine control effectiveness 

6. Control objectives

• Importance of well articulated control objectives

• A method to consistently articulate control objectives

• Alternative control objective methodologies 

7. Designing effective controls

• Starting with control objectives

• Factors to consider when assessing design effectiveness

8. Operating effective controls

• Factors to consider when assessing operating effectiveness 

9. Control assurance

• Components of control assurance

• Types of control tests

• Sources of information about controls

• Overview of sampling methods

• Measuring control effectiveness 

10. Controls assessment

• Assessing groups of controls

• Using bow ties to identify control gaps 

11. Issues and actions

• Types of issues identified during controls management

• Considering treatment methods and cost of controls 

12. Controls reporting

• Reporting for controls

• Providing controls assurance through reporting

• Escalation, response and issues and action management

13. Control ownership and culture

• Reinforcing the three lines of defence

• Ownership, accountability and responsibility for controls

• Building a strong control culture