Issue Archive: May/June 2009
Making the Case for Continuity
Author: Buffy RojasBC professionals often forget to ask about the organization’s current and future underlying business strategy. Without that information, your program won’t be aligned with corporate goals.
Business continuity can be a tough sell. It doesn’t generate revenue. It’s complicated. And, let’s face it, to the uninitiated, it can be downright boring. In a post-9/11 and Hurricane Katrina world, executives may have a better understanding of what business continuity is and why they need it, but that doesn’t mean they want to pay for it.
Making a case for continuity continues to be a challenge. To help you put together a solid defense, we asked members of the Continuity Insights Editorial Advisory Board and members of the NJ Enterprise Resiliency Roundtable (see page 13) to share their successful strategies and tactics for gaining executive-level support.
Sales Pitch Perfect
Like it or not, if you’re running a business continuity program, you’re in sales. If that’s not a role you feel comfortable with and you’d rather be writing plans, then you may be sacrificing your program’s long-term, strategic success. In sales, image matters. The way you look, talk, and carry yourself count more than you might imagine. The old adage “dress for success” is one to live by. If you don’t look and sound like you belong in the board room, you might never get there. The “uniform” will be dictated by corporate culture and will vary, but executives aren’t going to listen to a someone who doesn’t look the part, no matter how intelligent he or she may be.
Since you never know when you might get the opportunity to pitch your program, have an elevator pitch ready at all times. And when you do get an audience with executive management, be concise. If you will be using handouts or PowerPoint presentations, send them a few days in advance, and don’t overwhelm recipients. Keep it brief. Resist the impulse to show executives how much you know and, instead, communicate what it is that they really need to know. Practice what you want to say and say it as succinctly as possible.
C-Suite Strategy
Be sure to talk in strategic business terms with which executives can relate. Talk about financial and brand impact. Discuss risk, including capability risk, regulatory risk, and operational risk.
Many continuity professionals make the mistake of focusing on a list of applications or an org chart, finding out what’s important, and then figuring out how to recover it. That’s fine, but it’s not how anyone at the C-level thinks. They think about the products and services they deliver to customers, and if you can learn to talk about that too, you’ll have more success with execs.
Try something like this: “I have been focusing our planning effort on everything associated with product X” and discuss everything in terms of what is needed to develop and deliver that product. Executives can visualize that. It’s something that they can buy into, and they can understand the ramifications of not protecting that value chain.
Don’t go to senior management with an all-inclusive wish list based on BIA findings. Analyze results, prioritize, and take a short, concise list for consideration and approval. Think like this: “If this was my money, I’d spend it here.” And don’t attempt to plug every little hole, an approach that is both impossible and incredibly expensive. Instead, set expectations. Tell executives “If this is how much you want to spend, this is what I can deliver. This is what we will be missing, and here are our exposures based on that decision.” let them decide to engage, or not.
BC professionals often forget to ask about the organization’s current and future underlying business strategy. Without that information, your program won’t be aligned with corporate goals. Approaching the discussion from the angle of the traditional BCP lifecycle could be career suicide, especially in an economic downturn.
Another fatal error is going to executives with a metrics-based presentation that is full of numbers but devoid of meaning. The trend is for BC professionals to spend time building scorecards and measuring their program’s performance. Your scorecard likely shows things like 300 of 350 BIAs were completed and 30 exercises were performed this year. It might even be color coded (red, yellow, and green). It’s a worthwhile exercise, but it’s not what management wants.
Instead of presenting the green, which if we’re honest is everyone’s first impulse (“Look what I did!”), focus on the red; tell executives what needs to be done to turn it green and what type of business implications that has. Or present your findings as a readiness index, that links business continuity initiatives to specific products and services.
Are You Lookin’ at Me?
Sometimes, usually in the aftermath of some well-publicized incident, top management will come looking for you. Be ready.
When they have questions, you must have answers. Picture yourself as the hero in this scenario. Do heroes act nervous, fidgety, and unsure? Do heroes talk excitedly, trying to jam in as many factoids as possible? No, heroes have passion and energy, but they are never frazzled. A BCP hero must assess a situation, boil it down to pertinent facts, and lay out potential courses of action.
It’s better still to pre-empt such requests by bringing issues to management’s attention before they know there is a problem. You’d be wise to use an approach something like this: “We’re looking a couple of days down the road, and this is what could happen. Here are some options for you to consider.” Provide the options, and let executives make the business decisions. You may be tempted to tell them what to do. Resist that impulse. Most of the time, it’s not your call; it is your job to inform. Give them the variables, the options, and an understanding of the ramifications of each potential course of action. Let executives choose the path to take, sign off, and accept the associated risks.
Stay on top of the news, and even if today’s headlines aren’t a problem for your business, make sure executives know that. Anticipate their concerns and questions. Send a two-line e-mail saying your are aware that incident X has been reported in the news and that you have plans should that ever happen to your organization. Let them know you’ve got it covered. And when your organization experiences an event that may not make senior management’s radar, make sure they are informed. Don’t send a four-page, blow-by-blow account of a building power outage, just send a quick note letting your executive sponsor know that it happened, that it was resolved, and that you’ve got more information should she need it. Be a trusted advisor.
Score a Sponsor
Don’t have an executive sponsor? Then use the news as a way to get one. If you don’t personally know the executive with ultimate responsibility for BCP, call her administrative assistant, and say “This is what happened. Here’s my number. Let her know that I called and that if she wants an update on the issue, I’m ready to provide it.” That helps build credibility, which is really the only way to cultivate and maintain a lasting, meaningful relationship with a C-Level executive.
It is also important to realize that executives don’t want to be embarrassed, particularly in front of their peers. If they give you a shot at a group like the board of directors, don’t blow it. And if you’re prepping them with issues to take to executive meetings, make sure you have their back and set them up to look good. Help them understand how business continuity translates into value for customers and a way to differentiate your company from competitors.
You can even help your sponsor, while saving your own skin. With horizontal touch points across all business lines, business continuity groups are in a perfect position to offer guidance on budget cuts. Offer to work with executives to determine the ripple effect or impact of proposed cuts. Provide recommendations on how to save money by adjusting and maximizing the efficiency of recovery strategies. And make sure they understand that they couldn’t do any of it without you. CI
Your Case for Continuity
What are you doing to make the case for continuity in your organization? Share your successes and strategies with Continuity Insights readers. Contact Editor Buffy Rojas at buffy@continuityinsights.com or (610) 792-4802. And, as always, we promise not to use your name in print without your permission.
