The Human Touch: People and Teamwork Still the Key to BC Success

Another year on the frontlines of business continuity has made one thing clear. AI might be getting all the attention, but it’s still quality people and sound teamwork that gets results.

Related: The Human Factor: BCM Team Roles and Skill Requirements

Why People Still Matter Most in Business Continuity

As MHA Consulting and BCMMetrics wind up another year of serving our business continuity consulting and BC platform clients, one thing has become abundantly clear. Even though AI has been hogging the spotlight—and published BC advice tends to focus on technology, BIAs, and recovery plans—what really makes the difference is people and teamwork.

I’ve seen it over and over this year, disruption after disruption. Organizations with smoothly functioning crisis teams tend to do well when the heat is on. Others struggle. 

By the same token, efficient teams with underbaked programs often manage surprisingly well during outages. But organizations whose programs look good on paper can struggle in the clutch if their response teams are subpar.

In the end, it all comes down to people—the human factor. It comes down to how the people around the table respond and work together when the pressure is on.

Unfortunately, most organizations and BC offices do not give this critical element the consideration it deserves.

What High-Performing Teams Have in Common

I enjoy watching TV programs about Navy SEALs, Top Gun units, and similar elite teams. It’s inspiring to see how people at the sharp end, who routinely work in life and death situations, organize themselves and get things done in challenging circumstances. 

What you don’t see in such teams is everyone swaggering around trying to outmacho the other guy. On the best teams, everyone knows where they fit in and what their role is. They know when to be quiet and let others talk and also when to step forward and confidently share their knowledge and expertise. 

You can see a lot of the qualities in a well-coached football team, when everyone knows their role and has faith in the leadership. 

Such teams, whether in sports, the military, or some other area, don’t get too high when things are going well or too low when they meet with setbacks. They are made up of talented people, most with some sort of specialty, and the team makes the most of those talents. Teams in this mold amount to more than the sum of their parts.

The Challenge of Building the Right Team 

It’s easy to talk about the virtues of teamwork. It’s hard to put together a solid team and keep it functioning at a high level through the inevitable ups and downs.

In other blogs, Richard Long and I have written in detail about organizing and staffing business continuity and crisis management teams. If you’re interested in this subject, you might have a look at The Human Factor: BCM Team Roles and Skill Requirements and How to Set Up a Crisis Management Team (and Why You Need One). In those posts, we discuss such topics as what roles should be represented on your teams, the difference between primary and secondary CM teams, and choosing a CM team leader.

Putting together teams in BC and CM has both core and peripheral challenges. The core challenge is finding the right people with the right skills and temperament to do the job. The peripheral challenges have to do with navigating the political appointments of unsuitable people and team selections that have to do with checking a box rather than competence.

Building a well-functioning BC or CM team requires grappling successfully with both types of challenges.

Tips for Building Stronger BC and Crisis Teams

Here are a few practical considerations for BC practitioners who want to improve the effectiveness of their business continuity and crisis management teams.

First, it’s critical to understand the people behind the titles. Not everyone performs well in every role, and seniority alone is not a reliable indicator of crisis effectiveness. Putting people in seats that doesn’t align with their strengths can undermine the entire response. Effective teams are built by understanding individuals—their skills, experience, temperament, and how they behave under pressure.

Crisis situations amplify personality traits. Some people retreat when things get stressful. Others become overbearing. Some try to take over the entire response and don’t allow others to contribute, even when those people have relevant information. Others have valuable insights but sit quietly in the background, letting events unfold around them. 

BC practitioners need to recognize these dynamics and plan for them. Business continuity is about more than plans, BIAs, and documentation. During an event, outcomes still depend on how people interact, communicate, and make decisions together. Understanding how personalities work—and how they work together—is essential to assembling a team that functions well when it matters most.

This is where the BC team’s role as a trusted advisor becomes critical. Effective BC professionals bring more than templates and checklists to the table. They bring institutional knowledge, an understanding of how the organization really operates, and insight into how specific individuals are likely to perform in a crisis. That perspective allows them to guide leadership toward team structures and role assignments that actually work.

When new team members are added, it’s worth taking the time to build relationships before a disruption occurs. Walking through the plan together, understanding how someone prefers to communicate, and learning their strengths and limitations pays dividends later. 

Continuity Is a Team Sport

After another year of real-world disruptions, one lesson stands out: business continuity success still depends more on people than on technology. The organizations that perform well in a crisis are those that recognize that continuity is not just a technical discipline, but a human one.

For BC practitioners, this means looking beyond the documents and focusing on the dynamics around the table. When the right people are in the right roles and working together effectively, even imperfect plans can succeed. When they’re not, even the best programs can falter.

If your organization wants help strengthening the human side of business continuity, MHA Consulting is here to help. We’ve seen firsthand what works, what doesn’t, and how the right people make all the difference when it matters most.

Further Reading

• The Human Factor: BCM Team Roles and Skill Requirements
• Client’s Guide to Hiring a BC Consultant
• Hanging Tough: The Mental Game in Business Continuity
• How to Set Up a Crisis Management Team (and Why You Need One)
• Crisis Teams that Work: The 6 Traits Every High-Performing Team Has
• Our Complex World Demands a “Team of Teams”