By Ken Simpson.

Are you looking to build a high-performing team? Where each member understands their role, and how they fit with other team members’ roles? A team that can execute on the prepared game plan - while at the same time has the capability to improvise as the situation warrants?

That description might be something your business continuity, incident response and/or crisis management teams aspire to - or it may be just as appropriate a goal for your ‘business as usual (BAU)’ functional teams. In any case it applies to teams that seek to compete in elite level sports and perhaps we can learn something about how to prepare teams from the methods used in the sporting domain.

The nature of training and preparation changes as players and teams move from the participation and social levels of sport into elite competitions. Basic drills, sloppy execution and general fitness regimes are replaced with targeted training programs - building high-level skills, disciplined execution and embedding team concepts.

Similarly, as we seek to advance our professional practices beyond the legacy domains of business continuity and into the wider domain of resilience, then we need to change the way we think about and develop our teams. We need to ensure that our training and development programmes move beyond a basic exercise. We need approaches that are fit for our new purpose as an elite management response team.

Resilience, like performance in elite sports, is built in practice sessions and on the training field. It requires that we have established an appropriate training regime and embedded a culture that recognises the benefits gained from disciplined training and practice.