Business Continuity Awareness Week began this Monday, 13 May. Are you currently developing or updating a business continuity awareness programme, or brainstorming ideas for one? In this post, we will discuss how to create and deploy an effective business continuity awareness initiative and provide ideas for an engaging campaign during the week.
Business Continuity Awareness – Why is it important?
Understanding business continuity awareness is crucial. Before developing any training, it’s important to address several key questions:
- What are our goals with business continuity awareness?
- Who is our target audience within the organisation?
- Which topics should we cover to ensure our audience is well-informed, and how should we deliver this content?
Often, business continuity training focuses on the need for plans and their contents. While this is appropriate for those creating the plans, it may not resonate with others in the organisation who will be impacted by the activation of these plans. Thus, training should also emphasise why business continuity is vital to the organisation, avoiding the appearance of merely promoting the business continuity function.
Key Objectives of Business Continuity Awareness The primary aim is to ensure the entire organisation is informed and prepared for the invocation of the business continuity plan. We want to guarantee that everyone knows how to stay safe and what actions to take under specific scenarios like evacuation, relocation, or building lockdown. To achieve this, we might simulate different scenarios to demonstrate the established arrangements.
Who Should Be “Business Continuity Aware”? Our programme targets the broader organisation beyond the small group managing initial incident responses. We aim to engage those who haven’t participated in the planning but will be affected by its implementation. Essentially, this programme is for non-specialists who need to understand what happens when a plan is activated and what resources are available.
What Topics Should We Cover? The success of a business continuity awareness programme hinges on content relevance. Ensure the material is pertinent by:
- Explaining likely scenarios under specific conditions based on the organisation’s type and the plans in place.
- Detailing how notifications of major incidents will be communicated, whether through SMS, apps, calls, etc., and using visual aids where possible.
- Outlining expected actions upon receiving a notification, such as confirming receipt or monitoring information sources.
- Informing where and how updates on the situation can be accessed, identifying primary contacts for updates.
- Featuring senior management in introductions to emphasise the plan’s importance and everyone’s roles.
- Using familiarisation elements like images or videos of recovery facilities or simulated event notifications to make the content engaging and lively.
These elements tend to drive engagement, enhance understanding of the organisation’s investment in business continuity, and improve overall preparedness.
We have developed several highly effective Business Continuity Awareness Campaigns for organisations of all sizes. Feel free to get in touch to discuss your needs with us.
Author Steve Dance