Keep the Wheels Turning
Every company aspires to Business As Usual (BAU) in a crisis but remarkably few achieve this aim because they have never been trained in the plan and then rehearsed it thoroughly. All modern businesses and their key staff face considerable time pressures, but failure to devote time to rehearse the Business Continuity Plan can turn an organisation into a corporate casualty.
Rehearse, Rehearse and Rehearse Again
Needhams simple but structured rehearsal programme develops the skills base of clients’ staff from awareness, through competence, to proficiency. It thereby gives clients the confidence that they are as prepared as possible for any eventuality.
The Process for Success
Like any business process a methodical, auditable process works best in the long term. Therefore the Exercise and Rehearsal phase ordinarily comes after the process of Risk Assessment, Business Impact Analysis, Strategy and Plan development and Training is a completed. We can of course undertake Exercises and Rehearsals of plans that are already in existence but it would be wise to ensure that thorough training in the plan had previously taken place.
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Needhams has extensive experience of running the complete spectrum of Crisis Management exercises for clients involved in a wide variety of sectors. We have designed and implemented some of the most complex and detailed exercises involving Ministerial to Bronze level participants and running over a number of days.
In order to fully train personnel, rehearsals often progress from simple Desktop ‘Scenario based’ exercises through to highly complex Live Simulation exercises. The key to success lies in the development of relevant ‘issues’ based scenarios that always achieve the active involvement of the participants. An exercise programme designed by Needhams 1834 for its clients will include some or all of the following components:
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