Although each business disruption is unique and many decisions will have to be made as situations unfold, a business continuity plan provides a framework and preparation to guide these decisions, as well as a clear indication of who will make them. A successful business continuity plan includes the following elements.

Define a team structure

• Develop a clear decision-making hierarchy, so that in an emergency, people don’t wonder who has the responsibility or authority to make a given decision.
• Identify key personnel in every location in which your organization operates, both to respond to local events and to coordinate the organization-wide response for both local and broader-based emergencies.

Establish a plan

• Identify potential business disruptions that can affect any of your organization’s locations, such as power outages, epidemics and fires.  Also consider disruptions that are specific to individual locations, such as earthquakes and tsunamis in a seismically active region.
• Base your plan on worst-case scenarios rather than multiple graduated versions of each incident, to keep the number of scenarios manageable
• Prioritize the most essential operations, who will perform them and how work will be redirected if key people are unavailable
• Update your plan annually to reflect changes in the criticality and dependency of applications, business priorities, risk management, business locations, operations and other considerations

Test for disaster recovery

• Conduct full emergency simulations annually, including crisis communications, safety drills, and workplace recovery processes
• Measure your test results and strive for continuous improvements, whether they are application availability goals or personnel safety assurances

Create a crisis communications strategy

• Establish emergency notification systems, incorporating both push and pull systems to communicate quickly
• Prepare scripted communications that can be easily updated and ready to transmit immediately

Educate your organization

• Train your workforce so that they are aware of the processes they should follow in the event of an emergency and so they know where to find resources for help
• Conduct employee drills to help personnel become familiar with procedures, such as finding emergency exits