An important way of avoiding a crisis in the first place is to ensure your readiness for a disruptive event.
We have broken down this critical task so you can be confident the business continuity (BC) system you are putting in place will work effectively when it matters:
Although people often use the terms “test” and “exercise“ to mean the same things, here’s how we define them…
- A test is a specific type of exercise that you either pass or fail, or are otherwise graded on. If you’re serious about knowing if your BC arrangements are up to scratch, then consider bringing in some outside help to conduct a test exercise.
- An exercise can be many different things, but all of them have the objective of exploring how your BC arrangements will stand up to the pressure of real events. An exercise needs to be a learning event and tells you about areas of strength and weakness, so make sure you listen and act on what you discover.
- Don’t confuse training, with exercising. Realistically, exercise always enables people to learn about BC and that’s a good thing, but don’t treat exercises as a substitute for training – you need to get yourself and your team up to speed before conducting an exercise and most certainly before a test.
Whether you call something a test or an exercise, the crucial thing is that afterwards you can answer the following key questions…
What can you do to become more resilient?
Where are the gaps?
What have you learnt?
Best of luck and keep validating your plan!