Mastering Risk Management

TESTING THE PLAN

Why test?

As the military often say, no plan survives contact with the enemy.4 Having said that, thorough planning and training will give you a better chance of succeeding and your business recovering and being available as soon as possible.

Rather than endure an emergency, it is essential to test the plan – or exercise it, as business survival professionals prefer to say, echoing the military – and learn the lessons. The point of a test is to practise and to learn. The more you test, the more you can continuously improve.

It is often said that a business survival plan is like a fire extinguisher – it sits inert, possibly for years, but must be there and working when needed. As a plan must work under all circumstances, not just ...