Test Who Can Narrow the Work When a Service Breaks

A business-continuity exercise should test decision rights, not just whether a backup exists.

Choose one important service and imagine a key supplier, system, or team role is unavailable. Before the exercise, agree what the minimum service worth preserving is, who may reduce scope, and who needs to be consulted. Then walk through the scenario: what information would that decision owner need, and when should the team pause rather than improvise?

Afterward, record one unclear handoff and assign an owner only by agreement. Review whether the plan gave that person enough authority and resources to act. The point isn’t to claim the service is resilient because a drill happened; it’s to make the next decision easier to own when conditions change.