Exercise Planning Master-Class
Thursday 14th October, Dublin
Exercise planning is an essential skill for all BC practitioners and the “plan-do-check-act” cycle of BS25999 is wholly dependent upon the organisation having adopted a formal test & exercise programme. But acquiring the experience of the different types of exercise and having the courage to develop and deliver a major test of your business continuity plan can be daunting, especially for those working in a small BC team.
We cannot solve all of your training needs but the BCI Exercise Planning Masterclass on the 14th October in Dublin will provide the opportunity for you to learn from the experience of your peers and from the knowledge of a team of more experienced exercise planners.
Working in groups, you will be set the challenge of defining objectives, developing scenarios, writing scripts and delivering an exercise. The workshop format means that each of the four sessions – Planning, Development, Delivery and Debrief – will include a keynote presentation, a period of discussion, a practical exercise and feedback to review the issues that are highlighted with the help of the group facilitator. The presenters and group facilitators all bring their own special knowledge from backgrounds that include working with organisations in both the public and private sectors, teaching best practice in exercise planning and developing national guidance and standards.
The Masterclass includes references to both BS25999 and the BSI guidance PD25666 on Test & Exercise Planning; and some of our session leaders have been involved in the development of this new publication.
Early booking is recommended as this Master-class was oversubscribed when held in London in May.
Please note that the Early Bird rates apply up until Friday 17th September.
Workshop prices and how to book
EARLY BIRD RATE UNTIL 17th September:
BCI Members and Partner Affiliates: €225
Non-members: €315
Full price after 17th September:
BCI Members and Partner Affiliates: €250
Non-members: €350
Non-member rates include the option of 12 months BCI Affiliate Membership in order to provide access to the conference materials and the Members only area of the BCI website after the workshop. It also provides discounted rates for attendance at BCI workshops and events for the next twelve months.
Workshop offers!
• Book and pay before 17th September and receive a 10% discount!
• Bring a colleague along and they receive a 20% discount on the full price!
• Book three separate workshops at once and receive a 50% discount on the full price of the third one!
Please e-mail lucy.mcdonnell@thebci.org for more details of the above and for more information on the workshop.
To register to attend, use the booking form here.
The following draft is an outline of the key elements of the Exercise Planning Master-class. It is not intended as a specification for the event and the BCI reserves the right to make changes to the programme in the best interests of delivering the best possible value. The Master-class will require the active participation of all delegates for the full day.
09:30 Start of Workshop
- Briefing on the Master-class practical exercise
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Session 1: PROGRAMME PLANNING |
- Why exercise?
- Why an Exercise Policy & Strategy should be developed and supported by top management.
- Hints & tips for effective programme planning, winning approvals and funding, and ensuring commitment by senior management.
- A mixture of tests, exercises and rehearsals (what do we mean by each?); and how to get the right balance.
- Expectations of BS25999 and guidance from PD25666.
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Discussion
- What are the obstacles to delivering a fully effective test & exercise programme? How can these difficulties be overcome?
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Reflection
- What have I learnt that will enable me to win greater commitment to our exercise programme?
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Session 2: EXERCISE PLANNING |
- Hints & Tips for effective exercise planning.
- Assembling the exercise planning team: roles & responsibilities.
- Defining desired outcomes and setting objectives.
- Selecting the scenario; what supporting materials might be needed?
- Importance of ensuring that the scenario, injects and expected decisions are commensurate with the seniority and expectations of the players.
- Costing; making the business case; winning approval.
- Risks associated with running the exercise.
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Discussion
- What is the real purpose of the exercise and how will we ensure that the players are fully engaged?
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Develop key elements of the Exercise Plan
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Session 3: EXERCISE DEVELOPMENT |
- Hints & Tips on how to deliver the exercise: creating realism; keeping to time; time-outs; risks; etc ...
- Master events list (script) and injects
- The exercise delivery team: roles & responsibilities.
- Starting and stopping the exercise.
- Briefing the players.
- Safety considerations.
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Discussion
- What supporting documents will need to be developed?
- What can possibly go wrong?
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Develop key elements of the Exercise Plan |
Reflection
- What have I learnt about planning and development? How can I use these ideas?
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Session 4: DELIVERY |
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Discussion
- What were the main challenges in delivering the exercise? How might we improve?
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Session 5: DEBRIEF & REPORT |
- An outline framework for exercise debriefing.
- Hot debrief; questionnaires and interviews.
- Organisational learning and the BCM lifecycle.
- Reporting outcomes and ensuring action.
- Potential difficulties and “political” traps.
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Discussion
- How can we ensure that the “report & actions” is well-matched to the purpose and objectives of the exercise?
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Reflection
- What have I learnt; and what will I do differently as a result?
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17:00 End of Workshop |
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