Business continuity objectives and planning
Set continuity objectives that are measurable, consistent with the policy, and each with a plan that says what will be done, by whom, by when and how it will be judged.
01What applies
Set business continuity objectives and plan concretely how each will be achieved. The objectives have to be consistent with the policy, measurable where practicable, monitored, communicated and updated as the organization changes. The plan attached to each objective has to say what will be done, what resources are needed, who is responsible, when it will be completed and how the result will be evaluated. The clause turns an aspiration into a set of commitments that can be reported at the management review. An objective without a plan and a measure is not an objective in the sense the clause uses.
02Why it matters
Objectives are how the board sees whether the BCMS is delivering. They are also how the BCMS owner defends a budget. The clause forces the objective set to be small enough to manage and specific enough to report. When the draft introduces a process view, each process can carry one objective, which makes the process model measurable rather than descriptive.
03What good looks like
Limit the set to five to seven objectives. Write each as a target with a date and a measure: a recovery time achieved in an exercise, a percentage of critical suppliers assessed, a time to complete the impact analysis refresh. Attach the plan, the owner and the resource. Report progress in the same format every quarter so the trend means something.
04Evidence an auditor asks for
Ask for the last report against the objectives. If it shows activity rather than achievement, the measures are not measuring the objective.
| Evidence | The record |
|---|---|
| Objectives | Documented objectives consistent with the policy, with a measure and a date |
| Plans | A plan per objective with actions, resources, owner and completion date |
| Monitoring | Evidence objectives are monitored and reported, and the set is updated as the organization changes |
05Where it commonly fails
- Objectives stated as aspirations with no plan behind them
- Objectives never measured, so achievement is asserted
- The objective set unchanged over years despite material change
06What to do before the estimate
Rewrite the objective set as five targets with measures. Add the owner and the date. Take it to the next management review.