Communication matters most
The BCI London Forum releases results of its “What Makes a Good BCM” survey of members
London, UK - December 9, 2009 – The BCI London Forum, the largest chapter within the Business Continuity Institute, today announced the results of its “What Makes a Good Business Continuity Manager” survey. Between October and November, 80 BCI members completed the London Forum’s online survey of 46 questions, anonymously. Questions covered the following areas of attributes:
· The personal qualities one would expect in a good business continuity manager
· Age
· Experience
· Responsibilities
· Their activities within and outside their organisation
The survey was able to identify areas of consensus and the degree to which opinions differed on what one would expect to see in a good BCM.
There was a high degree of unanimity on the following characteristics of a good BCM:
· The top quality one would expect is an ability to communicate at all levels
· That was followed by (in order)
o Keeping calm during a crisis
o Extracting information extremely well
o Being well known with Facilities, Risk, IT and BC departments
o And conducting regular internal awareness campaigns
There were wide differences of opinion on how much business continuity experience a good BCM would have. More than 3 years was preferred by most, however more than 14 years experience was deemed by some to be undesirable. And as for age, though most people were of the opinion that age does not matter, for a significant minority, being younger than 35 or for others, older than 55, were not qualities they would expect in a good BCM.
Opinions were sharply divided on whether a good BCM would
· be a board member
· have responsibility for auditing the BC plan
· be responsible for risk management
Results are being discussed today at the BCI London Forum’s workshop.
The full results can be downloaded in the December 9th 2009 section of BCI London Forum
Presentations About the BCI London Forum
The BCI London Forum is the largest and most active chapter or "forum" within the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). Each year, the Forum runs three workshops and ten evening get togethers (known as BANG) in central London. It is run by a volunteer committee of BC practitioners.