Organisations often treat Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) as distinct programmes — owned by different teams, documented separately, and activated under different conditions. While this separation can work, it only succeeds when the interface between the two is clearly defined and regularly tested.
This blog explores the differences between the two disciplines, why they’re sometimes separated, and how to ensure they operate in sync when it matters most.
What Is Business Continuity Planning?
Business Continuity Planning is the process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disruptive incidents that threaten the ongoing operations of an organisation. It focuses on maintaining essential functions during and after a crisis, ensuring that services can continue with minimal interruption.
A strong BCP:
- Identifies critical business functions
- Assesses risks and dependencies
- Outlines recovery strategies and resources
What Is Crisis Management?
Crisis Management is the strategic and tactical response to high-impact events that threaten an organisation’s reputation, operations, or stakeholders. It involves decision-making under pressure, clear communication, and leadership visibility.
While BCP is about keeping operations running, Crisis Management is about managing perception, coordination, and control during turbulent times.
Our Integrated Approach
We typically treat Crisis Management as a component of Business Continuity Planning. This integrated approach reflects reality: crisis response is a key element of continuity disruption. Separating the two can lead to gaps in planning and execution.
We break down the response to major incidents into three overlapping phases:
Incident Response
Immediate reaction to an event — detecting, assessing, and containing the disruption. Often technical in nature, especially in IT-heavy environments. The goal is to stabilise the situation quickly.Crisis Management
Activation of leadership teams, strategic decision-making, and communication with stakeholders. It’s about protecting reputation and maintaining control.Business/Operational Recovery
Restoring services and operations to normal or acceptable levels. This may span hours, days, or weeks depending on the severity of the disruption.
When we write a BCP, we ensure all three phases are addressed. This holistic view helps organisations respond effectively, regardless of the nature or scale of the incident.
Why Do Some Firms Treat These Separately?
There are valid reasons why some organisations separate Crisis Management from Business Continuity:
- Scale and Resilience: Large, decentralised firms may not worry about operational recovery in the traditional sense. Their global footprint means continuity isn’t threatened by localised outages.
- Rapid Recovery Capabilities: Some firms operate in highly resilient IT environments where recovery is near-instant. For them, continuity is a technical function, and crisis management is the only strategic layer.
- IT-Centric Operations: Businesses reliant on IT services often focus on Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP). Their continuity concerns are technical, and crisis plans are designed to handle service outages, cyber incidents, and data breaches.
- Cultural and Organisational Structure: In large organisations, functions like Corporate Affairs or Risk may own crisis planning, while IT or Operations own continuity. If these teams operate in silos, plans often evolve separately.
- Historical Incident Experience: Past events shape planning. If an organisation has experienced reputational crises (e.g., social media backlash, regulatory investigations), it may emphasise crisis management. Conversely, firms hit by technical outages or supply chain failures often focus on continuity.
What to Do If You Have Separate Crisis and BCP Plans
If your organisation maintains separate plans, here’s how to ensure they work together effectively:
Clarify Ownership and Activation Triggers
Define who activates each plan and under what circumstances. Use a shared escalation matrix and ensure both teams understand thresholds.Establish Coordination Protocols
Ensure both teams know how to escalate to each other. Run joint incident response exercises to test handovers and communication.Align Communication Strategies
Crisis teams lead external and executive communications; BC teams manage internal updates and service-specific messaging. Agree on a shared comms framework to avoid duplication or conflict.Synchronise Decision-Making
Crisis decisions may conflict with BC priorities. Include BC leads in crisis calls and ensure crisis teams understand operational constraints.Document the Interface
Each plan should include a section explaining how it links to the other. Consider a shared annex or flowchart showing how incidents transition between CM and BC.Test It
Tabletop exercises are the best way to expose gaps. Run scenarios that require both plans to activate and observe how teams interact.
What to Do If You’re Just Getting Started
If you’re at the beginning of your resilience journey, start by treating Crisis Management and Business Continuity as an integrated programme. This approach avoids creating two separate workstreams, reduces complexity, and ensures alignment from day one.
Why start integrated?
- It’s easier to build one cohesive framework than two siloed ones.
- Most organisations find that a combined plan meets their needs for years.
- If you later decide to separate them, it’s far simpler to split a well-structured integrated plan than to merge two independent ones.
Start with:
- A single governance structure
- Shared activation criteria
- Unified communication protocols
- Exercises that test both strategic and operational response
This foundation gives you flexibility: you can keep the integrated model or evolve into separate plans as your organisation grows in maturity.
Final Thought
Having separate Crisis and Business Continuity Plans isn’t a problem — but failing to connect them is. The best organisations treat them as two sides of the same coin: strategic leadership and operational resilience working hand in hand.
Whether you’re refining your BCDR framework or just getting started, make sure your plans are aligned, your teams are coordinated, and your response is seamless.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the main difference between Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning (BCP)?
Crisis Management focuses on strategic leadership, communication, and reputation during high-impact events. Business Continuity Planning ensures essential operations continue during and after disruptions. In short, CM manages perception and decision-making, while BCP manages operational resilience.
2. Why do organisations often separate Crisis Management and BCP?
Separation usually happens due to organisational structure, cultural factors, or technical resilience. For example, large firms may have decentralised operations, making continuity less critical, while others prioritise crisis response due to reputational risks.
3. Can Crisis Management and BCP work independently?
Yes, but only if the interface between them is clearly defined and tested. Without coordination, gaps in communication and decision-making can occur during major incidents.
4. What happens if these plans aren’t aligned?
Misalignment can lead to conflicting priorities, delayed responses, and reputational damage. For example, a crisis team might make decisions that hinder operational recovery if they don’t understand continuity constraints.
5. How can organisations ensure separate plans work together?
- Define ownership and activation triggers
- Establish coordination protocols
- Align communication strategies
- Synchronise decision-making
- Document the interface between plans
- Test with joint exercises
6. Should new organisations start with separate plans?
No. It’s best to start with an integrated approach. A single governance structure, shared activation criteria, and unified communication protocols reduce complexity and ensure alignment from day one.
7. What are the three phases of an integrated response?
- Incident Response: Detecting and containing the disruption
- Crisis Management: Strategic decisions and stakeholder communication
- Business/Operational Recovery: Restoring services to normal
8. Is it wrong to keep Crisis Management and BCP separate?
Not at all. The key is ensuring they connect seamlessly. The best organisations treat them as complementary disciplines working hand in hand.