Disaster Recovery Journal Spring 2023

you go so the BIA is essentially complete at the end of the session. n Try to finish in less than the scheduled amount of time. n Provide results as soon as they are available so the group can review them, and you can close out quickly. n Thank the participants for sharing their time and expertise. n If you have many BIAs to conduct, don’t do more than three on a given day. Because of how demanding the process is, it’s unlikely you’ll be at your best if you do more. n Review the data provided in the pre-work to be prepared to guide the discussion effectively and draw out any information not provided. A Collaborative Enterprise Conducting BIAs is a deeply collab orative enterprise. How you handle the human side of the endeavor can make or break your success. By following the tips in this article, you will increase the chances of getting your colleagues in other departments to give you their very best efforts, to the benefit of the BIAs you produce as well as your organization’s overall resiliency and pre paredness. Takeaways n Many people mistakenly assume conducting a BIA is mostly about the questionnaire. The key to success is working effectively with the people providing the information. n Understanding the human side of the BIA is critical to its success. n If your sources disengage, your data and results will suffer. n Try to understand what the BIA experience is like for those providing the information. v Michael Herrera is the CEO of MHA Consulting, a leading business continu ity planning and information technology consulting firm. Herrera is the founder of BCMMetrics, which specializes in business continuity software designed to aid organizations in devel oping and executing business continuity programs.

n Streamline the BIA process through pre-work, leveraging previous data, and focusing on the most critical processes. n Prepare mentally and physically to facilitate each interview. Phase 2: Creating the BIA packet The packet that goes out to the par ticipants announcing the BIA is your first chance to start building a good relation ship with them. Here’s how to make the most of it: n Write the cover letter in partnership with your sponsor in senior management; send it out over the sponsor’s signature. n In the letter, talk about the importance of business continuity and the BIA and what they mean to the company. n Also in the letter, ask the participants to do a modest amount of pre-work (to stimulate their thinking and speed up the eventual interview). n Specify the due date of the pre-work as well as the date, time, and location of the BIA meeting and who within the business unit should attend. Phase 3: Preparing the room The basics are critical when you are gathering together a bunch of people who would most likely rather be somewhere else, especially if you expect them to give you their best effort for two or three hours on a less-than-fun subject. In preparing the conference room, you should make sure of the following: n The temperature is comfortable. n You have enough space and chairs. n You have coffee and water for everyone. n There is a place up front where you can stand. n You have your BIA software up and running. n You have worked out any kinks in the projection of your computer screen onto the wall behind you. Phase 4: Facilitating the discussion This iswhere things get interesting. There are many types of people at a large com pany, and you have to be flexible enough to work productively with all of them. When leading a BIAmeeting, you should:

n Get a good night’s sleep. Facilitating a BIA meeting is very draining mentally. You will have to talk a great deal, and it will be challenging to get people to the right answers. n Dress the part. You are there to lead the meeting. Look like a leader. n Be enthusiastic and fun in how you present yourself; it’s not the most exciting subject. n Stay focused and on track. Your interviewees will appreciate a crisp and clean delivery of the subject matter. n Adapt your style to the personality of the interviewees. People often reflect the style of the field and company, as well as their role in the firm. Marketing and human resources people will probably come in smiling and joking; nurses are fun to interview, but doctors can be difficult; and engineers and actuaries respond best to a cool, businesslike approach. n Be energetic enough to keep a rein on the extroverts and patient enough to draw out the introverts. n Don’t assume the participants have read everything you sent them, or they completed the prework. n Don’t be shocked if you encounter people who have worked at the organization 10 or 20 years but do not know the basic information needed to complete the BIA. It happens. n If possible, have a scribe who can record what is said and decided so you can focus on leading the discussion. n Be prepared for the likelihood people will pay more attention to their phones and laptops than to you. n Many people tend to overstate the criticality of activities they are involved in. Make sure you push for facts which will illuminate the truth of the situation. n Some people will be impatient, and others will overanalyze every number. Keep things moving and stay focused on what is important. n The flow of the meeting should follow the screens of your BIA tool or the sections of your spreadsheet. Put in live data as

30 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SPRING 2023