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Course 203 · Work course 73

Build a Small-Organization Continuity Plan

Build a tabletop continuity plan with critical services, dependencies, outage tolerance, minimum staffing/records, alternate delivery decisions, recovery evidence and a rehearsal log.

Before you start

Paper or a local document and a basic calculator are enough; all required records are supplied.

Learn Project Management by Running a Real Project See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A tabletop continuity plan with critical services, dependencies, outage tolerance, minimum staffing/records, alternate delivery decisions, recovery evidence and a rehearsal log.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ exploring work and adults preparing for an entry-level or next-stage responsibility. Work eligibility, supervision and occupational requirements remain separate.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Paper or a local document and a basic calculator are enough; all required records are supplied.
  • Recommended preparation: Learn Project Management by Running a Real Project. Use fictional information throughout.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A tabletop continuity plan with critical services, dependencies, outage tolerance, minimum staffing/records, alternate delivery decisions, recovery evidence and a rehearsal log.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Save essential-function priority record and life-safety boundary; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save dependency/backup verification matrix; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save minimum-notice workaround with authority and time assumptions; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save communication plan with approval/receipt/test fields; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save tabletop gap and within-target bounded conclusion; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save continuity priority/dependency/workaround/notice/tabletop/resumption packet; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • The final packet uses the supplied task-specific constraints and all six records agree.
  • Every result can be traced to an identifier, input, calculation or stated decision rule.
  • Changed-case practice updates dependent records and keeps holds or uncertainty visible.
  • The packet states the learner role, authority boundary and specific next verification needed before real work.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Match the task-specific constraint

Continuity planning prioritizes which functions must resume and when; it does not grant permission to reenter unsafe premises or replace emergency response.

02

Keep decisions traceable

Preserve the original records and identify which person or policy can authorize a change; a plausible assumption is not approval.

03

Test the handoff

Normal service resumption needs verified permission, records and capacity; ending a tabletop or receiving one good update does not close every operational gate.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Essential function
Minimum service result prioritized for continuity.
Recovery time objective
Target time for restoring a defined minimum service.
Dependency
Person, record, route or other resource a function needs.
Tabletop inject
New fictional scenario condition used to test decisions.
Resumption gate
A separately verified condition required for normal service.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Identify essential services and tolerable interruption

    Save essential-function priority record and life-safety boundary. Explain how continuity planning prioritizes which functions must resume and when; it does not grant permission to reenter unsafe premises or replace emergency response.

  2. 2
    11 min

    Map dependencies and single points of failure

    Save dependency/backup verification matrix. Explain how a critical function requires people, records, communication and approved alternatives; an unused backup does not help if its access or restoration is unverified.

  3. 3
    11 min

    Test recovery objectives against proposed workarounds

    Save minimum-notice workaround with authority and time assumptions. Explain how a recovery proposal needs feasible time, capacity, authority and minimum service result; an RTO target does not prove a restored service.

  4. 4
    11 min

    Draft outage communication with approval and privacy

    Save communication plan with approval/receipt/test fields. Explain how a continuity notice gives confirmed status, next update and approved alternatives without inventing resumption times or exposing contact lists.

  5. 5
    13 min

    Run a tabletop and record observed recovery gaps

    Save tabletop gap and within-target bounded conclusion. Explain how a tabletop tests decision and record sequences using provided scenario injects; it does not perform physical emergency response or prove production resilience.

  6. 6
    15 min

    Set resumption gates and maintain the continuity plan

    Save continuity priority/dependency/workaround/notice/tabletop/resumption packet. Explain how normal service resumption needs verified permission, records and capacity; ending a tabletop or receiving one good update does not close every operational gate.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Build a Small-Organization Continuity Plan practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

www.ready.gov — business
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Public agency or educational context; no source exercises are copied and no simulated threshold is presented as an official rule. The direct-access limitation is preserved; official search-retrieved context supports the stated scope only.

Access: Official primary-page summary was available in web search; direct page retrieval was blocked in this environment. Full page and interactive operation are not claimed.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

Manage your business - Small Business Administration
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Public agency or educational context; no source exercises are copied and no simulated threshold is presented as an official rule. Page title and relevant content inspected; no interactive controls or credential process tested.

Access: Readable official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

11-3013.00 - Facilities Managers
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Occupational task and responsibility context; the exercise policies and quantities are original fictional inputs. Page title and relevant content inspected; no interactive controls or credential process tested.

Access: Readable official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one