A Guide to Leadership Support

Annie Deere
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

Are you struggling to get support from your leaders?

You’re not alone. Getting leadership support is hard. Not only do you need a great idea, but you need to sell it right.

Leadership support for business continuity planning (BCP) is especially difficult to obtain. A continuity plan helps an institution combat any unplanned circumstances by identifying and documenting their critical functions. It helps a university or college restore those same critical functions as quickly as possible after an adverse event. Continuity plans help an organization minimize the negative impacts of an adverse event, save time and money, and protect their brand.

Involve your Faculty

In business continuity planning, involvement from your institution is essential. A good plan is developed by department leaders and faculty members with the help and guidance of a business continuity planner. Often times, the planning process is the most valuable task in creating a BCP; it encourages faculty to think through an event and determine what should be done by whom to mitigate further disaster.

“I really am a believer that the process of planning is more beneficial than actually having a plan itself.”

- Lauren Gunter, East Carolina University Continuity Planner

However, getting department leaders, higher level leaders and other faculty on board is a tall order. Kuali recognizes that; we reached out to our network to find out what other institutions are doing to get buy-in from their college or university. Our research shed light on the best method of increasing institutional engagement: leadership support.

“The importance of leadership support cannot be stressed enough.”

- Anonymous

Leaders can Advocate for Continuity Planning

While a continuity plan is clearly an important area of emergency planning, many continuity planners struggle to get support from university leaders. The problem is not that university and college presidents don’t care about continuity planning; rather, leaders have many urgent matters that need to be addressed. A continuity plan does not appear to be as urgent as other matters, that is, until a crisis occurs.

You can vie for leadership support in many different ways. In a report published in 2016 by the National Center for Campus Public Safety (NCCPS), financial support was identified as a major need by 75% of respondents. Unfortunately, financial support is not always something a leader can give. Luckily, there are other tried and tested methods that leaders can use to show support without have to make budget re-arrangements.

“Institutional commitment can come in a variety of ways. Certainly there’s financial support. But that’s not the be all end all. Policies that reinforce the importance of emergency planning [and] continuity planning […] are also important.”

- NCCPS Survey Respondent

Leadership Support Guide

Kuali sees a clear gap in the business continuity space. Continuity planners need help getting support from leadership.

We created a guide to help continuity planners develop institutional engagement by getting leadership support, including advice from other continuity planners and leadership support methods that improve institutional engagement. Download our guide and boost your institution’s resilience today.

Kuali Ready

Business continuity planning solution built by higher education for higher education. https://www.kuali.co/products/continuity-planning/

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Annie Deere

Written by

Public Relations, Content Marketing, Corporate Communications.

Kuali Ready

Business continuity planning solution built by higher education for higher education. https://www.kuali.co/products/continuity-planning/

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