Life evolves.\u00a0 \u00a0As does business.\u00a0\u00a0 And corporate structures.\u00a0\u00a0 And therein lies a challenge for Business Continuity.\u00a0\u00a0 How many of you have almost completed a phase of the continuity program when the groups you have been working with abruptly undergo a restructuring thus requiring a lot of rework?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0While the constant change and evolution of corporate structures can be one of the more frustrating aspects of our field it is also, for me at least, one of the things which keeps life interesting.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0That said, corporate reorganisations and mission changes can play havoc with our project timelines and delivery schedules.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0It is, perhaps, ironical that the very people who plan for operational disruptions should be so susceptible to them in their own work but such is life.\u00a0\u00a0 In my last few blog posts, I\u2019ve been focussing on BIA-related issues and will continue to do so in this post<\/p>\n
While there is usually very little we can do to affect the changes, I do believe there are things we can and should do to minimise the effects of those changes.\u00a0\u00a0 In some ways, the BIA phase may be the BCM phase which can most easily respond to a restructuring.\u00a0\u00a0 When completing a BIA, I prefer to focus on the smallest business unit (BU) which makes sense.\u00a0\u00a0 In some cases, this may be a department, in others a team within a department.\u00a0\u00a0 The point is to capture the information for a group of related business processes which generally work closely together towards uniquely identifiable ends.\u00a0\u00a0 Using this approach leads to a level of modularity which can give the BIA a level of resilience to organisational change.\u00a0\u00a0 (I also find that it makes it a lot easier to get the relevant people into the same meeting.\u00a0\u00a0 It also keeps the group small enough that everyone can contribute and remain engaged in the process.)<\/p>\n
In the simplest restructuring, an entire BU is migrated into a new reporting structure while leaving the BU\u2019s activities and personnel untouched.\u00a0 In this case, if one has a BIA focussing on the BU, adapting to the change may be as simple as changing the reporting lines.\u00a0\u00a0 If this is the case, be grateful!<\/p>\n
The other end of the spectrum is when multiple BUs are broken apart and merged into new structures with new objectives.\u00a0\u00a0 In this case, your options boil down to \u201cstart from scratch\u201d or \u201ctry to salvage something\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If the business processes have simply been moved around and shuffled, it may<\/em> be worth seeing what can be salvaged and used as a starting point as one begins again.\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u2019re thinking about this option, I strongly suggest you consider a) whether this will save you much time and b) whether the \u201clegacy\u201d information will constrain the new BIA inappropriately.\u00a0\u00a0 In most cases, my preference would be to start from scratch after you have reviewed the relevant obsolete BIAs and BCPs to gain a good understanding of how things used<\/em> to work.\u00a0\u00a0 Familiarity with the old reality gives you context for the new reality and enables you start the new BIA with an open mind.<\/p>\n In general, I think it a good idea to anticipate expected changes affecting your project and to plan accordingly.\u00a0\u00a0 If you follow the old \u201cbe good, be brief, be gone\u201d principle, you reduce the window of exposure but you should always identify the risk of organisational changes as one of your project risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life evolves.\u00a0 \u00a0As does business.\u00a0\u00a0 And corporate structures.\u00a0\u00a0 And therein lies a challenge for Business Continuity.\u00a0\u00a0 How many of you have almost completed a phase of the continuity program when the groups you have been working with abruptly undergo a restructuring thus requiring a lot of rework?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0While the constant change and evolution of corporate structures can be one of the more frustrating aspects of our field it is also, for me at least, one of the things which keeps life interesting.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0That said, corporate reorganisations and mission changes can play havoc with our project timelines and delivery schedules.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0It is, perhaps, ironical that the very people who plan for … Continue reading