Preparing process owners for exception walkthroughs
Walkthroughs go faster when owners bring real examples, not polished slides about how the process is supposed to work.
Ask each process owner to select two recent exceptions: one routine, one awkward. Bring the request, the approval, and whatever closed the item. Walking through lived examples surfaces shortcuts that a policy flowchart will never show.
Encourage owners to speak candidly about pressure — month-end rush, customer escalations, system outages. Those pressures explain why compensating controls were skipped, and they belong in the findings narrative so remediation is realistic.
Schedule walkthroughs away from peak close week when possible. An owner who is still reconciling bank accounts will give thinner answers, and the engagement calendar will slip for everyone.