Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Operational Resilience

In today's increasingly interconnected and unpredictable business environment, organisations face a wide range of disruptions that can threaten their operations, financial performance, reputation and ability to serve customers. These disruptions may arise from cyberattacks, technology and system failures, natural disasters, pandemics, fires, power outages, fraud, supply-chain interruptions, economic shocks, regulatory changes, human error and other unforeseen events.

Business continuity management has therefore evolved from simply preparing for disasters into a broader organisational discipline focused on ensuring that critical products, services and business functions can continue during and after disruptive events. ISO 22301 provides an internationally recognised framework for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).

However, organisations increasingly need to go beyond having a Business Continuity Plan. Crisis management and operational resilience require organisations to understand their critical operations, anticipate potential disruptions, respond effectively when incidents occur, recover within acceptable timeframes and adapt to changing circumstances.

This comprehensive course provides participants with practical knowledge and tools for developing effective business continuity programmes, conducting Business Impact Analysis (BIA), assessing disruption risks, developing crisis response structures, designing recovery strategies and strengthening operational resilience.

The programme also addresses crisis leadership, emergency communication, incident response, disaster recovery, scenario testing and continuous improvement, enabling organisations to remain operational and protect stakeholders even in challenging circumstances. Current professional programmes in Nigeria similarly emphasise BIA, continuity planning, crisis teams, disaster recovery, stress testing and resilience.

Course Objectives

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the fundamental principles and concepts of Business Continuity Management, Crisis Management and Operational Resilience.
• Identify and assess potential threats, vulnerabilities and disruptive events that could affect organisational operations.
• Understand the relationship between risk management, business continuity, crisis management, disaster recovery and operational resilience.
• Conduct an effective Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to identify critical business processes, services, resources and dependencies.
• Develop appropriate Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and other recovery requirements.
• Develop and implement effective Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) and continuity strategies.
• Establish effective crisis management structures, including the roles and responsibilities of Crisis Management Teams (CMTs).
• Develop effective incident response and emergency management procedures.
• Understand strategies for maintaining critical operations during major disruptions.
• Develop effective disaster recovery strategies for critical business processes, technology and infrastructure.
• Strengthen organisational capability to respond to cyber incidents, system failures, supply-chain disruptions and other operational threats.
• Understand the principles and practical application of operational resilience.
• Develop effective crisis communication strategies for employees, customers, regulators, suppliers and other stakeholders.
• Design and conduct scenario exercises, simulations and stress tests to evaluate organisational preparedness.
• Identify weaknesses in existing continuity and recovery arrangements and develop improvement plans.
• Understand how to establish a culture of resilience and preparedness across the organisation.
• Understand how ISO 22301 can support the development of an effective Business Continuity Management System.
• Improve leadership and decision-making capabilities during periods of uncertainty and crisis.

Benefits of the Course

Participants and their organisations will benefit from the training in the following ways:

1. Improved Business Continuity Preparedness

Participants will acquire practical knowledge for preparing their organisations to continue critical operations during unexpected disruptions.

2. Reduced Operational Downtime

Effective continuity and recovery strategies can help organisations restore critical operations more quickly following an incident.

3. Stronger Crisis Response

Participants will understand how to structure crisis teams, establish response procedures and coordinate activities during emergencies.

4. Better Risk Identification

The programme helps organisations identify vulnerabilities and understand how different risks can affect critical business processes.

5. Enhanced Operational Resilience

Organisations can develop the ability not only to prevent disruptions but also to withstand, respond, recover and adapt when disruptions occur.

6. Protection of Revenue and Business Value

Effective continuity planning can help minimise financial losses resulting from prolonged operational interruptions.

7. Improved Customer Confidence

Maintaining critical services during disruptions helps protect customer relationships and organisational reputation.

8. Stronger Crisis Leadership

Managers and executives develop better decision-making, communication and coordination skills when operating under pressure.

9. Better Disaster Recovery

Participants learn how to develop practical recovery strategies for critical processes, systems, facilities and resources.

10. Improved Regulatory and Governance Readiness

A structured continuity and resilience framework can strengthen organisational governance and support compliance expectations.

11. Enhanced Cyber and Digital Resilience

Participants learn how continuity and resilience considerations can be incorporated into responses to technology and cybersecurity incidents.

12. Improved Supply-Chain Resilience

Organisations can identify critical suppliers and dependencies and develop strategies for dealing with supply-chain disruptions.

13. Better Crisis Communication

Participants learn how to communicate accurately and effectively with employees, customers, regulators, media and other stakeholders during crises.

14. Competitive Advantage

Organisations with strong resilience capabilities may be better positioned to maintain service delivery and recover faster than competitors following major disruptions.

15. Professional Development

The training provides valuable knowledge for professionals working in risk management, audit, compliance, business continuity, operations, corporate governance and crisis management.

Who Should Attend?

This course is suitable for:

• Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors
• Executive Directors and Senior Management
• Risk Managers and Risk Officers
• Enterprise Risk Management Professionals
• Operational Risk Managers
• Business Continuity Managers
• Business Resilience Professionals
• Crisis Management Professionals
• Disaster Recovery Managers
• Compliance Officers
• Internal Auditors
• External Auditors
• Information Security and Cybersecurity Professionals
• IT Managers and IT Risk Professionals
• Operations Managers
• Process Improvement Managers
• Business Process Managers
• Corporate Governance Professionals
• Company Secretaries
• Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officers
• Health, Safety and Emergency Management Professionals
• Facility and Security Managers
• Supply Chain and Procurement Managers
• Human Resources Managers
• Finance Managers
• Banking and Financial Services Professionals
• Insurance Professionals
• FinTech and Digital Banking Professionals
• Government and Public Sector Officials
• Consultants and Business Advisers
• Professionals responsible for developing or implementing Business Continuity Plans
• Professionals responsible for organisational risk, resilience or emergency preparedness.

Course Booking

Please use the "Book Now" or "Inquire" buttons on this page to reserve your space or request for more information