BCAW+R Day 2: Think Your Crisis Drills Make You Ready? Think Again!
The BCI’s annual Business Continuity & Resilience Awareness Week (BCAW+R) continued with the theme "Think your crisis drills make you ready? Think again!"
On day two the webinars addressed the idea that real crises move faster and hit harder than any rehearsal, and how to stress-test plans and build flexibility so your organisation can adapt when the unexpected happens.
Session highlights – crisis exercising
In “How we uplifted crisis capability at nbn Australia”, Australia’s National Broadband Network (nbn) shared the story of their journey to align practices with contemporary standards and introduce structured measurement. The organisation moved from a traditional model to a more agile, evidence-based approach designed to respond to increasingly fast-moving and complex disruptions.
Some assume that routine crisis exercises equate to real preparedness, but the webinar “The Uncomfortable Truth: We Need to Sweat a Little to be Crisis Ready” argued that many organisations design exercises to reassure, comply, and avoid discomfort rather than to expose weaknesses and improve resilience. Real disruptions hit harder and move faster than expected, so the presentation advocated a progressive, purpose-driven exercise programme that develops capability over time, builds genuine decision-making muscle, and trains organisations to respond as they would actually have to in a crisis.
The aim of “Performing Under FIRE for Business”, was to strengthen decision-making, leadership effectiveness, and team performance under pressure. Drawing on proven techniques and frameworks from the emergency services, crisis management, elite sport, and evidence-based performance practices, it developed the core capabilities required to perform in high-stakes environments. These fundamentals sit at the centre of effective leadership and are directly transferable across industries, roles, and organisational levels, complementing and enhancing existing learning and development initiatives.
Following day one’s focus on hybrid, “Beyond the Script: Business Continuity Exercises in Social Housing” explored why old school approaches are no longer sufficient and gave practical guidance on preparing smarter, faster, and more proactively. This included advice on how to identify early warning indicators, exercising for ambiguity, strengthening cross-functional coordination, and integrating communications and trust as core resilience capabilities.
“Evacuation, Escalation and Crisis Management: Lessons Learned” was an expert-led session that unpacked the latest on‑the‑ground developments, examined real-world evacuation operations, and highlighted the critical crisis management lessons organizations need to strengthen their preparedness. It also explored the escalation indicators that should trigger contingency planning, and the practical steps organizations can take to safeguard their people and maintain continuity during crises.
Scenario-based crisis exercises are the cornerstone of good preparedness and skills enhancement, so “Crisis Resilience Training - how to select the right type of scenario-based exercise for your teams” looked at the type and format of crisis exercises that should be selected to achieve optimum results. It also showed how to avoid common mistakes in setting up and running a scenario planning/testing/training session and gave examples of best practice benchmarks.
Look out for Day 3
Day three has the theme: "Think you've planned for climate risks? Think again!" With climate change already disrupting operations, supply chains, and regulatory landscapes, the day shows how climate risks act as a multiplier and the steps needed to make resilience plans genuinely climate-ready.
Business Continuity & Resilience Awareness Week (BCAW+R) 2026 | BCI
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