Implementing a systematic management approach to Business Continuity Process Management is an important part of a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan.

An organisation’s BCM programme should be managed on an ongoing basis. A management process is required to effectively measure, control and audit the Business Continuity process. The process provides management co-ordination and governance by clearly defining the roles,responsibilities, accountabilities and authorities of senior management and key employees of the organisation. This can be done by using assigning each role or function a RACI (responsible / accountable / consulted / informed) rating.

Business continuity must be assessed continuously for improvements. Also, it must be audited to ensure compliance with the polices, procedures and applicable regulations of an organisation.

The Business Continuity process should be constantly updated and maintained to ensure that it remains relevant in the changing operating environment. A Business Continuity Audit is needed to ensure that the Business Continuity process is verified for compliance to the organisation’s policies and objectives. In addition, it should fulfil any contractual arrangements and comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Prepare a programmed to communicate organisational awareness and enhance the skills required to develop, implement and maintain the Business Continuity plan.

To ensure that your Business Continuity plan is understood and accepted, you must require the active participation of many people in your organization. Additionally, you need to communicate your Business Continuity plans clearly to ensure that employees know what is to be expected of them in the event of a crisis that requires disaster recovery. Effective communication is candid, clear, detailed, timely, relevant to the interests and needs of the participants, involves the right people, and ensures mutual understanding of content and conclusion. Much communication can be informal and oral. However, written communications are needed to document issues,understandings, and action plans. Meetings should be well- planned, and their results.

An ongoing program of training for those directly involved in the development, implementation, maintenance and execution of the organization’s Business Continuity

All employees should be onboarded and made familiar with the relevant Business Continuity process for their business unit.. An educational process by which teams and employees are made qualified and proficient about their roles and responsibilities in implementing a business continuity plan should be implemented. Training is an essential part of the Business Continuity Process. Many good plans fail at the most crucial stage because the people who are not in everyday contact with the Business Continuity Process are not familiar with their role. All relevant resources and contacts should be adequately trained in a structured manner to assure compliance with their relevant ‘roles’ and the ‘tasks’ they are involved in. Therefore, the level of training will vary for different participation levels. Auditing, Exercising and Monitoring the Business Continuity Process will help to identify any training deficiencies.

Rehearsing the roles of key stakeholders involved in the Business Continuity process.

Exercising involves the testing of the Business Continuity process and rehearsing the roles of key employees involved in it. The process of exercising enables key employees to familiarise themselves with their roles as required by the Business Continuity process.

The entirety of the Business Continuity Process should be monitored, and modifications implemented as necessary.

The Business Continuity process needs to be continually monitored and evaluated to assure its validity. Therefore, it is important to not only measure results, but to also have the ability to reflect those results in your Business Continuity plan. A monitoring program to ensure that remedial action plans are applied within an agreed timescale should be implemented.