Ongoing Communication and Training on the Plan
Making sure the team knows the plan before using it
An excellent continuity plan that's unknown to those who must carry it out has the same practical value as having no plan, because in a real crisis there's no time for staff to read procedures for the first time. Maintaining ongoing communication and training means periodic sessions where teams review their roles, updates when the plan changes, and already tested alternative communication channels in case the usual email or messaging systems aren't available during the incident. This matters because knowledge degrades over time and with staff turnover: someone trained two years ago who has since changed roles is no guarantee of an effective response today. A practical example is including the continuity plan in the onboarding of every new employee in a critical role, not just as a generic annual training for the whole organization.