Taking business continuity training and education forward

Regional Business Continuity Institute forums could be developed to meet training and education needs, says Colin Gordon:

I have attended numerous seminars and workshops as well as the Business Continuity Masterclass in the past, in an attempt to learn the fundamentals as well as the advanced thinking behind business continuity management. Some of the events have been used to promote a particular service or product and in other cases have merely skimmed the surface of a wide and varied craft. From speaking to people entering BCM at an early stage in their working lives, the general consensus is that most people are learning on the job and gleaning information from informal sources. Ten years ago there was little public information about how to start a BCM project but now we have websites such as continuitycentral.com, the BCI’s web site as well as UK government websites that can all assist in helping people in the background to business continuity.

Yet there does not appear to be a practical training course for business continuity managers to attend that walks them through the stages of the BCM lifecycle over a period of time. The academic course at Coventry is a good start to teaching the theory behind BCM, but true learning can only come from experienced business continuity practitioners passing on knowledge and sharing skills.

Some business continuity practitioners guard their methodologies closely and try to promote BCM as a ‘black art’ known only to a few initiates and therefore impart a fraction of the experience, skills and knowledge to others. Furthermore, information will only be given from the trainer’s perspective. I learnt more about AS400s on one training course than I ever needed to know, mainly because the person taking the training was an AS400 DR expert. Also, to develop and deliver high quality BCM training takes time and ultimately money to produce the training materials for little return on investment. From experience it can take 20 days to produce training notes, and good quality material only to have to cancel the course because of a lack of numbers.

Is there a solution?
There is scope for the regional Business Continuity Institute forums to be developed to deliver formal training over a period of time with set work for those wishing to attend. The idea is that formal training be delivered and the candidates then tasked with applying what they have learnt to their own organisations. Over a set period of time the candidates can be coached through developing their own methodologies, based on PAS 56 perhaps, develop their documentation standards, be mentored through the complete BCM lifecycle using experienced Members and Fellows of the BCI. This, I believe, can be delivered one day a month for 12 months to provide practical training and education coupled with assignments for the candidates. Therefore the time factor of trying to cram in everything you wanted to know about business continuity into a three day course is negated and the candidates can learn at their own pace, with the backup of a local informal organisation. If the training is dovetailed into a Continual Professional Development programme, regular regional BCI forum meetings and mentoring schemes, then the candidates will be inspired and encouraged to complete the course.

A radical idea? It can work with the right people!

Author: Colin Gordon FBCI Tel: +44 (0)1296 712842
cwgordon@bydand.co.uk
www.bydand.co.uk

•Date: 20th April 2004 •Region: UK/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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