How to Write a Continuity of Operations Plan

Oct. 22nd, 2026 12:00 pm

When a flood, fire, or cyberattack shuts down your facility, your community still expects critical services to continue. A continuity of operations plan shows your team how to keep essential work running when normal operations stop. Without one, leaders improvise under pressure, and gaps in authority or records quickly turn into service failures.

Below, you will learn how to write a continuity of operations plan from first draft to annual update. You will also see which core elements every plan needs and how to keep your staff ready to use it. Every step applies whether you support a county government, a university campus, a utility, or a public safety agency.

 

How Do You Write a Continuity of Operations Plan?

To write a continuity of operations plan, start by identifying the essential functions your organization must never stop performing. Next, define orders of succession, delegations of authority, alternate facilities, communications, and essential records for each function. Finally, train your staff, test the plan through exercises, and update it at least once every year.

 

Start Your Continuity of Operations Plan With Essential Functions

Essential functions form the foundation of every decision you make throughout the planning process. According to the Continuity Guidance Circular from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), essential functions come first. Your continuity of operations plan should name only the activities your community cannot go without, even briefly.

Start by listing every service your organization provides, from emergency dispatch to payroll and permit processing. Next, rank each service by how quickly its disruption would harm public safety, health, or core government operations. Then, assign a recovery time objective that sets how long each function can stay offline.

For example, a 911 call center tolerates almost no downtime, while routine records requests can wait several days. Clear priorities help your team focus limited staff and equipment where they matter most during a disruption.

Afterward, document the people, systems, records, and partners each essential function depends on to operate. Hidden dependencies, such as a single server or one vendor contact, become obvious once you map them out. Buffalo Computer Graphics (BCG) offers emergency management plan development services that turn this analysis into clear plan language.

 

Build the Core Elements That Keep Leadership and Staff Working

Once you know your essential functions, you need the structure that keeps them running under any conditions. A strong continuity of operations plan addresses leadership, staff, communications, and facilities as connected pieces of one system. Make sure your plan covers each of the following core elements in practical detail.

• Succession and authority: Name who assumes each leadership role and which decisions each successor can make.

• Alternate facilities: Identify backup locations or telework options where staff can resume essential work within your recovery targets.

• Continuity communications: List redundant systems that keep leaders, staff, partners, and the public connected during disruptions.

• Essential records: Protect and back up the documents, databases, and systems your team needs to keep working.

Ultimately, each element depends on the others, so a single gap weakens your entire response. For instance, a successor cannot act without access to records, communications, and a working location. Writing each element with the others in mind keeps your plan practical instead of theoretical.

Additionally, your plan should cover devolution, which shifts essential functions to another team when your primary staff cannot respond. It should also address reconstitution, the process of returning operations to normal once the threat passes.

Meanwhile, technology plays a growing role in keeping these elements accessible when your building is unavailable. DLAN's cloud-based capabilities give your continuity team secure access to plans, contacts, and checklists from any location. As a result, successors step into their roles with the same information leadership used the day before.

 

Test and Maintain Your Continuity of Operations Plan Year-Round

A plan only protects your organization when the people responsible for it know how to use it. Testing, training, and exercises reveal weak spots long before a real disruption exposes them in front of the public. Regular reviews also keep your continuity of operations plan aligned with staffing changes, new systems, and evolving threats.

According to FEMA's continuity plan template, organizations should update their plan annually and lead ongoing training and exercises. Building those tasks into your yearly calendar keeps maintenance from slipping behind daily operational demands.

Start with tabletop exercises that walk leaders through a facility loss or a sudden staffing shortage. Next, move to functional drills where staff relocate, activate backup communications, and access essential records remotely. Our role-based training and exercise services help your team practice every step before a real activation.

Consider a city utilities department that discovers during an exercise that its backup site lacks network access. Because the gap surfaces in practice, the team fixes it calmly instead of scrambling during a real outage. Afterward, an after-action review captures the lesson and updates the plan for everyone who relies on it.

When an actual disruption stretches your team thin, outside expertise keeps your plan moving from paper to action. BCG's professional and support services provide trained personnel who help you activate and sustain continuity operations.

 

Protect Your Agency's Critical Services With Expert Planning Support

A well-built continuity of operations plan keeps your community served even when your building, systems, or leaders are unavailable. Still, writing one takes careful analysis, clear language, and regular practice that busy teams struggle to fit in. The right partner makes the process faster and leaves you with a plan your staff can follow with confidence.

At BCG, our Buffalo team has supported emergency managers for decades with in-house engineering and hands-on planning expertise. You gain a responsive partner who treats your readiness as a shared mission, with no hidden costs along the way. Contact our planning team to start building a continuity plan your staff can trust under pressure.