ROSS EDWARDS CONSULTING
Crisis readiness and business continuity advisory
Strengthening escalation, executive decision-making and continuity of critical operations
Crisis readiness depends on more than documentation
REC reviews and tests crisis and business continuity arrangements to assess whether roles, escalation, decision-making and continuity priorities are clear and workable.
The focus is how leaders and teams coordinate, decide, communicate and sustain critical operations during disruption.
Advisory services
Crisis readiness and executive decision support
Review and strengthen governance, escalation, roles and executive decision-making for significant incidents and crises. Develop clear structures and practical decision support for leaders and response teams.
Incident and emergency response arrangements
Develop and review plans, procedures and response structures for operational incidents and emergencies, including roles, activation thresholds, coordination and response actions.
Business continuity
Identify critical functions, dependencies, recovery priorities and continuity requirements. Develop proportionate strategies and plans for maintaining or restoring priority operations.
Exercises, reviews and improvement
Design and facilitate targeted exercises and after-action reviews to test assumptions, roles and decisions, and convert findings into prioritised improvement actions.
When to use REC
REC supports organisations that need to establish, review or test crisis, emergency management or business continuity capability.
Common triggers include:
new or untested crisis, emergency management or business continuity arrangements
unclear escalation, roles or decision rights
recent disruption, near miss or lessons identified from an incident
organisational change, growth or increased complexity
preparation for exercises, assurance or board scrutiny
need to clarify critical operations, dependencies or recovery priorities
Executive Crisis Readiness Review
The REC Executive Crisis Readiness Review assesses governance, escalation, executive decision-making, communication and continuity arrangements for a significant incident or crisis.
The Review examines:
governance, roles, accountabilities and handover arrangements
escalation thresholds, activation criteria and decision pathways
executive operating rhythm, information flows and decision support
critical functions, dependencies and recovery priorities
internal and external communication arrangements
key vulnerabilities, assumptions and dependencies
The outcome is a prioritised assessment of what is working, what needs attention and what should be addressed first.
Practical outputs
Depending on the engagement, REC provides practical outputs such as:
readiness findings and priority actions
defined roles and accountabilities for crisis and business continuity teams
escalation and notification pathways
executive meeting rhythm and decision tools
exercise scenarios and facilitation support
after-action findings and improvement plans
critical function and continuity priority mapping
How REC works
Understand
Clarify context, existing arrangements and priorities.
Assess
Review governance, roles, escalation, dependencies and assumptions.
Strengthen
Set practical recommendations and prioritised actions.
REC also provides associate and partner delivery support for consulting firms, safety providers and specialist advisory teams requiring additional crisis, emergency management or business continuity capability.
Led by Ross Edwards
REC is led by Ross Edwards, whose career began in the Australian Defence Force and has since spanned emergency management, crisis management and business continuity across government and major city operating environments.
He advises organisations on crisis readiness, business continuity and executive decision-making, with a focus on clear governance, escalation, role clarity and continuity of critical operations.
His approach is practical and structured, drawing on experience in operational planning, coordination, response and organisational readiness.
Contact REC
Contact REC to discuss crisis readiness, business continuity, emergency management or partner delivery requirements.
Ross Edwards
Principal
Ross Edwards Consulting
ross@rossedwardsconsulting.com.au
Based in Sydney. Available Australia-wide.
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