Business continuity: identify critical work
What should a business continuity plan identify first?
Identify critical work, who depends on it, its responsible role and an alternative. Record necessary information and access, a workable temporary method and the point at which specialist help is needed.
A continuity plan is easier to build when the business knows which activities matter first. Start with the work that would create the most immediate difficulty if it stopped.
Identify a small set of critical activities
Consider essential communications, active commitments and the records needed to continue them. Ask what the business would do if a key person, system or supplier became unavailable.
Government emergency-management guidance includes business continuity planning. Your operational plan should fit the real business and connect with its safety and emergency arrangements.
For each critical activity, record
- Why it matters and who depends on it.
- The responsible role and an alternative.
- Necessary information and access.
- A workable temporary method.
- The point at which specialist help is needed.
Test a small disruption scenario
Choose an example such as a short system outage. Can the team locate current commitments, communicate appropriately and record the work done through the temporary method?
Do not test by disabling live systems or removing real access without a planned, authorised exercise. A discussion-based walkthrough can reveal many gaps without disrupting operations.
Keep emergency contact routes current and protect the plan from becoming a public collection of sensitive information. Relevant staff need access; unrelated people do not.
After the walkthrough, choose one practical improvement and assign it. A continuity document is most useful when its assumptions have been checked and its alternatives can actually be used by the people responsible.
General business-process information. Check the circumstances and seek appropriate professional advice for contractual, legal or specialist decisions.
Further reading
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