A week in the life of… a business continuity manager

Tuesday

I started the day with a catch-up with my manager, followed by a team meeting. It was nice to hear what everybody was up to and what our priorities for the week were.

By the time my meetings were done, it was mid-morning, and the sun was shining, so I went out for a little bit of fresh air to reset before continuing with the rest of my day.

I then attended a Women in Resilience webinar. Webinars are great because they help you to keep up with best practice, while expanding your professional network.

Networking can be a little daunting, but building relationships with like-minded professionals in your industry provides great insight into how other organisations work and different perspectives. I’ve learned a lot about business continuity from different sectors, which leaves me questioning: “How can this be applied to housing?”

Wednesday

My morning was spent focusing on university work, which included self-study and pre-reading ahead of my next module, which was due to start the following week.

In the afternoon, I updated the business continuity programme plan, which tracks the programme progress. I then used the programme plan to inform a quarterly report for our executive board and Audit and Risk Committee on the business continuity programme progress. I quite enjoy writing reports because it provides an opportunity to share progress and offers assurance.

I then finished the day by checking the news for any business continuity and housing-related stories. I kept an eye out for any that could impact the sector or the organisation.

Thursday

My Thursday was pretty jam-packed with meetings, but still an exciting day as I walked a team through their new business continuity plan. Walkthroughs are a great way to introduce colleagues to a plan, walking them through it step by step and at their own pace. It allows them to ask any questions, share feedback on the plan, and we even tried out a desktop exercise.

I really enjoy working with teams to build their plans and toolkits; it’s great to bounce ideas around, collaborate and ensure plans suit the team and service they support. The main aim of delivering business continuity plans and toolkits is to make disruptions part of our ‘business as usual’. Walkthroughs and exercises allow teams to build confidence that enable us to continue delivering our services for our customers.

Friday

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday already. Most of the morning was spent planning for a business impact analysis that I would conduct the following week. This involves preparing the template and carrying out some research on the team and service that I work with.

A business impact analysis offers a great opportunity to dive in and understand a service – I always learn something that I didn’t know before.

I then caught up with my university programme lead, which allowed me to ask any questions ahead of the new module. My afternoon was then spent responding to emails, catching up with colleagues, reading our weekly update and winding down ready for the restful weekend ahead.