Organizations that take an improvisational approach to scheduling their business impact analyses make a tough job even tougher. Conducting your BIAs on a considered, recurring schedule is the best way to gain your colleagues’ cooperation and obtain reliable results.
Related: Resilience Roadblocks: Top 6 Challenges Companies Encounter in Doing BIAs
Summary
- Most organizations make BIAs harder by scheduling them reactively and at short notice.
- A recurring BIA cadence (same time each year or cycle) improves participation and results.
- Use a simple four-step approach to set frequency, pick timing, and stick to it.
The BIA Challenge
The BIA, by helping organizations prioritize their business processes, provides critical guidance in terms of recovery planning and program investments. It’s essential that the BIA be right since if isn’t, everything else you do is likely to be wrong.
BIAs are also notoriously hard to conduct since they depend on the input of departmental experts who in many if not most cases regard having to contribute to the process as an imposition. (This is to say nothing of management, who are also essential to the process and also, in many cases, unenthusiastic about it.)
This combination of foundational importance and great difficulty explains why “BIA” is one of the most commonly searched terms in business continuity.
The Wrong Way to Schedule BIAs
Strangely, most organizations make the process of conducting BIAs harder than it needs to be while foregoing a simple way of making them easier for everyone involved.
They do this through their approach to scheduling them.
Most organizations take a haphazard, reactive approach to scheduling their BIAs, often putting them on the calendar at short notice, at irregular intervals, and at random times throughout the year.
The improvisational approach works great in jazz and basketball, but it is not the best way to schedule BIAs.
Winging the BIA schedule makes people cranky, turns everyone’s calendars into a conflict zone, and keeps the organization in the state of being a perpetual BIA beginner, with all that entails in terms of inertia and learning curves.
Building a Sustainable BIA Schedule
There is a better way to schedule BIAs than playing it by ear. This is to find a stretch on the calendar that’s convenient for the organization and do the BIA at that time every year or every two years, or whatever it might be, so that everyone gets into a rhythm.
The following four steps can help organizations create a BIA cadence that fits their business and is easy to maintain over time.
- Analyze the details of your situation.
Are you in a highly regulated field, such as finance, where many institutions are obliged to comply with strict regulatory standards such as FFIEC? Is your organization highly dynamic, frequently seeing acquisitions or similar changes? Are you in a fairly conservative sector, seeing comparatively little change from year to year? Analyze the unique factors which might have a bearing on how often you need to look at and update your business continuity plans.
- Decide how frequently you need to conduct BIAs.
Organizations in dynamic or highly regulated fields might need to conduct BIAs once every one to two years. Organizations in fields that see little change from year to year are probably fine with conducting BIAs every two to three years. Consider what frequency makes sense for your organization then develop a proposal and work with stakeholders to align on a suitable cadence.
- Choose the best time of year for conducting your BIAs.
Certain times of year might be better or worse for doing BIAs, depending on the cycle of the business. For example, it might make sense for a university to conduct BIAs in the summer when the students are away. Approach the decision collaboratively, incorporating your stakeholders’ feedback and obtaining their agreement regarding what would be the best time of year.
- Settle into this schedule and timetable and follow it consistently.
Whatever your organization decides in terms of frequency and time of year, once you adopt that schedule, let people know what it is and stick with it over the long haul, unless compelling reasons arise that necessitate a change.
The goal is to make the conducting of BIAs, and the schedule on which you conduct them, part of the organization’s culture.
Benefits of this Approach
A recurring BIA schedule creates advantages for both the BC team and the people whose participation the process depends upon. Among the most important benefits are the following:
- It makes it easier for you to prepare, send out, and receive back the completed pre-work.
- It makes it easier for you to secure the resources and face-time you need to conduct the BIA.
- It ensures that if you are asked during an audit by a regulator when your next BIA is scheduled, you will have an answer.
- It will improve the attitudes of everyone involved by training them to see doing their BIA pre-work and interviews as a routine part of life at your organization.
People become much more cooperative when, rather than trying to get on their calendars at short notice, you are following a familiar, recognized schedule.
Over time, a recurring BIA schedule becomes self-reinforcing. People know when the process is coming, understand what is expected of them, and are more likely to view participation as a normal business responsibility rather than an unwelcome interruption.
Making BIAs Routine
Conducting a business impact analysis is one of the most important as well as one of the most challenging activities in a business continuity program. Because BIAs depend on the participation of busy subject matter experts and executives, organizations should do everything possible to make the process efficient and predictable.
One of the simplest ways to achieve this is to establish a recurring BIA schedule. When BIAs are conducted on a regular cadence and at a familiar time of year, organizations find it easier to secure participation, complete pre-work, satisfy audit requirements, and maintain the quality of their continuity program.
MHA Consulting has extensive experience helping organizations design, conduct, and maintain effective BIA programs. Contact MHA to learn how we can help your organization establish a sustainable BIA process and build a stronger foundation for business continuity.
Further Reading
- Resilience Roadblocks: Top 6 Challenges Companies Encounter in Doing BIAs
- The Right Way to Accelerate Your BIAs: Getting the Most Out of BIA On-Demand
- BIA Blunders: 6 Common Mistakes Organizations Make When Conducting BIAs
- The Human Side of Conducting BIAs
- How to Weight Your BIA Impact Categories
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some common mistakes people make in scheduling BIAs?
The most common mistake is treating BIAs as an ad hoc activity rather than something that should be planned in advance. Many organizations schedule BIAs at short notice, at irregular intervals, or only when something forces them to. This creates unnecessary disruption, reduces participation quality, and makes every cycle feel like starting from scratch.
What is the hardest part of conducting BIAs?
The hardest part of conducting a BIA is securing high-quality input from busy subject matter experts and getting meaningful engagement from management. These participants are essential to producing accurate results, but they often view the process as an interruption to their core responsibilities.
What is the best way to schedule BIAs?
The best approach is to establish a predictable, recurring schedule rather than improvising each cycle. Organizations should choose a consistent time of year that fits their business cycle and conduct BIAs on a regular cadence—typically every one to three years depending on the environment. Once the schedule is set, it should be communicated clearly and followed consistently so that the process becomes routine and expected rather than disruptive.
How often should my organization conduct a BIA?
It depends on the nature of the organization. Highly regulated or fast-changing environments typically require BIAs every one to two years. More stable organizations with fewer operational changes can often conduct them every two to three years. The key is to choose a frequency that reflects the organization’s level of change and risk, then apply it consistently over time.
