The Risk of Inaction
ROI: The Risk of Inaction — A Framework for Prioritising When You Can't Put a Revenue Number on It
A practical, interactive session for leadership teams who keep losing the prioritisation argument to the loudest voice in the room.
Sales teams walk into a prioritisation conversation with a revenue number. Ops and IT teams walk in with “we need to upgrade the platform.” Sales wins. Every time.
Not because the platform upgrade is less important — but because nobody has articulated what happens if you don't do it. The risk of inaction goes unspoken, and the projects that protect, sustain, and scale the business keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.
This session gives you the language and the framework to change that.
What it covers
- Why traditional ROI frameworks fail for operational and technology projects
- The Risk of Inaction — a practical reframe that gives ops and IT leaders the language to compete in prioritisation conversations
- How to attach value to backlog items that don't have a revenue number
- A worked exercise using real examples from your own backlog — you'll leave with at least one project articulated in a way your CFO can evaluate
- The behavioural patterns that keep leadership teams stuck — saying yes to everything, avoiding trade-off conversations, defaulting to the loudest voice
What you'll walk away with
- A repeatable method for articulating the risk of NOT doing something — in language your CFO and board will understand
- At least one real backlog item reframed using the method during the session
- Confidence to challenge the next prioritisation conversation instead of accepting the default
Format: Interactive virtual workshop. 60–90 minutes. 30 minutes framework content, remainder spent on worked examples from attendees' own backlogs and Q&A.
Who it's for: COOs, CFOs, CIOs, Heads of IT, PMO leaders, and anyone who has ever watched an important project get deprioritised because they couldn't put a number on it.
Watch the highlights
This highlight reel is drawn from an earlier version of the session, covering the foundations of demand management and prioritisation. The live version has since evolved to focus specifically on the Risk of Inaction — how to articulate the value of projects when you can't put a revenue number on them. Watch the highlights for a taster of how I approach this, and join the next live session for the full framework.
Highlight reel
Ungated video — plays immediately, no sign-up.
(Awaiting Helen's edited reel, 10–15 min.)
Join the waitlist
I run live sessions of ROI: The Risk of Inaction regularly for small groups. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know when the next session is scheduled.
For conferences, events & L&D teams
Book this session for your team or event
I deliver ROI: The Risk of Inaction as a virtual keynote, workshop, or internal training session. It's practical, interactive, and designed to leave your audience with a framework they can use the same week — not just inspiration.
The signature exercise — working through real backlog items from attendees' own businesses — means every session is different. Your audience leaves having articulated the risk of inaction for their own projects, in language their leadership team can act on.
Virtual conference keynote
From £1,50045–60 minutes
A focused session delivering the Risk of Inaction framework to your conference audience. Practical, no-nonsense, and designed to leave attendees with a method they can use immediately.
Virtual interactive workshop
From £2,50060–90 minutes
The full experience. Includes pre-session discovery to understand your audience and context, tailored examples, and the signature exercise — attendees work through real items from their own backlogs and leave with at least one project articulated using the Risk of Inaction method. Best for leadership teams, L&D cohorts, and smaller focused groups where interaction drives the value.
Speaker bio
Helen Beckford is an IT Business Partner who has spent 15+ years working across 16 countries spanning EMEA, APAC, and the Americas. She specialises in prioritisation and governance for mid-market businesses — helping leadership teams decide what matters, build the structure to protect those decisions, and ensure the prioritised work gets delivered. Her background includes IBM, Accenture, Dyson, and Elvie. She holds PRINCE2, ITIL 4, BRMP, and CBRM certifications and has been recognised as a UK Finalist for Future CIO of the Year (2017) and an SAP UKI Customer Success Awards Finalist for Best Transformational Change Programme (2021).
Who books this
- Conference and event organisers
- L&D teams at mid-market businesses
- Professional communities and networks