A crisis hits and two managers give different orders. Who has authority? A firefighter’s guide to command, escalation and the first hour.

Ask any team leader if their area is critical and they’ll say yes. They’re not lying. From where they sit it is critical. Trouble is, when everything is essential nothing is. You end up spreading four people across three jobs so thinly that none of them get done.

A business continuity plan sets out how your business keeps its critical work going when something goes wrong and how you get back to normal afterwards. It covers who’s in charge, what has to keep running,