Business Continuity Planning Toolkit | Page 43

What is a tabletop exercise?
Tabletop exercises provide a means of practicing your
company’s business continuity plan and evaluating the
result—without waiting until an actual emergency occurs.
A tabletop exercise asks the emergency management
group (EMG) to address a simulated problem—focusing on
the efficiency and effectiveness of the business continuity
plan. Following a tabletop exercise, many companies find
there are weak points in their business continuity plans
that need to be addressed.

Prepare Your Business For the
Unexpected with Tabletop
Exercises
Insight for business owners and risk managers
provided by Marshall & Sterling Insurance
Statistics show that approximately 25 percent of
businesses affected by disasters never reopen their doors.
Small business owners and individuals who are selfemployed are especially vulnerable to the loss of income
that business interruptions can cause. To protect yourself
from losses in the event of a forced shutdown, you must
purchase adequate business interruption insurance and
create a thorough business continuity plan.
Implementation of your business continuity plan means
more than simply exercising the plan during an
emergency. It means integrating the plan into your
company operations, training employees and evaluating
the plan.

For informational purposes only.
Not intended as legal advice.
© 2014 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.

What does it look like?
During a tabletop exercise, the EMG is asked to consider:
• What is expected of the EMG and all other
employees in the event of an emergency;
• What specific risks the company carries in light of
the particular business interruption;
• Resources available to combat the business
interruption;
• Communication options available to the EMG and
all other employees;
• How customers will be affected and what to do in
that situation;
• Security of company data and the assets; and
• The order in which to respond to certain
situations.
After the EMG has discussed the issues
presented in the exercise, the group has the
opportunity to determine what was missing
from the company’s business continuity plan
and to revise the plan accordingly.
Conducting a tabletop exercise with your EMG is essential
for the success of your business continuity plan. These
exercises should be conducted regularly to provide
practice for your EMG and to allow timely evaluation of
your business continuity plan.
For more information about creating and implementing a
business continuity plan, contact your Marshall & Sterling
Insurance representative.

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