Supervisory walkthroughs reward calm specificity. Inspectors ask how a control works on a named Tuesday, not how the policy PDF describes an ideal month.
Rehearse with real tickets
Pick recent exception tickets and have the clearing owner narrate the path from alert to closure. If the story requires three people who are never in the same room, fix the handover before the visit.
Align registers with practice
Outdated beneficial-ownership registers and screening lists surface quickly. A readiness assessment often finds policies that were printed after the last update to the live register. Correct the register first; polish the prose later.
Keep evidence retrieval timed
If pulling a settlement pack takes half a day, inspectors will notice. Practice retrieving the packs you claim are “readily available.” Time-to-evidence is itself a control signal.
Do not over-script answers
Scripted language that does not match the ticket history erodes trust. Better a slightly imperfect but accurate description than a polished answer that collapses under a follow-up question.
Independent readiness work cannot promise an outcome. It can shorten the list of avoidable surprises so your team spends inspection time on judgment calls rather than missing folders.