Creating action items in events

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

3 minutes to read

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Summary of Creating Action Items in Events

With the BCM release 9.0.x, crisis managers can create action tasks for recovery teams during an open crisis event or exercise. These tasks can be created in real-time without needing to link them to event assets or recovery plans, and they are not part of the event recovery timeline.

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Key Features

Real-time Action Items: Assign tasks instantly, such as verifying injuries post-exercise or reviewing business continuity plans.
Assessment Capability: Use action items to conduct real-time assessments during crises, like evaluating situations during a fire.
Action Item Details: The Action items tab includes fields such as start date, end date, duration, and descriptions.
States of Action Items: Action items progress through defined states: Open, Work in Progress, Skipped, and Closed.
Assignment Flexibility: Assign tasks to groups or individuals using specific fields for better task management.

Key Outcomes

Crisis managers and planners can efficiently manage tasks during a crisis, improving response times and ensuring critical actions are taken promptly. The distinct roles for action items allow for clear accountability and streamlined workflow, enhancing overall crisis management effectiveness.

Starting with BCM release 9.0.x, crisis managers can create action tasks for recovery members or teams anytime during a crisis event or exercise, as long as the event remains open. Crisis managers can create these tasks on the fly without mapping them to event assets or recovery plans. These action tasks are also not included in the event recovery timeline.

Action items in real-time

Action items can be used to assign tasks in real-time. For example, a crisis manager can assign an action item to verify that there are no injuries at a specific office location after an exercise or they can request someone to review the business continuity plan before proceeding to the next steps.

You can also use action items to conduct assessments during a crisis event. For example, in the event of a fire, you can assign an action item to assess the situation, determining the severity, and identify affected employees and buildings. You can perform an assessment and assign an action item.

Fields and states associated with Action items

The Action items tab contains these details related to the ad-hoc tasks:

Actual start date
Actual end date
Total time taken
Event (Reference)
Short description
Description
Due date
Task numbers
Type
Task
Assessment

The states associated with action items are listed in the table.

Table 1. States associated with action items
State	Description
Open	First state of the action item.
Work in progress	State of the action item when its work begins. When an action item moves to the Work in progress state, the system auto-captures its start time.
Skipped	Assigned state of the action item when it is not relevant. When an action item is skipped and considered not relevant, its time fields are removed, resulting in a total time of 0.
Closed (complete, incomplete)	Final state of the action item task. When an action item has been completed, the system auto-captures its end time.

BCM managers or planners can update the action items and can re-open the ad-hoc tasks associated with them.

You can assign the action item tasks to the groups or team members by using these fields:

Assignment group
Assigned to
Additional assignee list

Comparison between event tasks and action items

The action items are distinct from the event tasks in crises and events. The table outlines the differences between event tasks and action items.

Table 2. Comparison between event tasks and action item tasks
Fields/Criteria	Event task	Action items
Details	Short description Description Task numbers Dependencies Activated plan Impacted assets Task ID	Short description Description Task numbers Type
Assignment	Assignment group Assigned to Recovery team Additional assignee list	Assignment group Assigned to Additional assignee list
Access	Plan owner, Program manager can create/update/delete action items. Event recovery members can read/update action items that they are assigned to.	Plan owner, Program manager can create/update/delete action items. Event recovery members can read/update action items that they are assigned to.
Workflow	Pending -> Open -> Work in progress -> Skipped -> Closed (complete, incomplete, failed)	Open -> Work in progress -> Skipped -> Closed (complete, incomplete)
Dependencies	Yes	No
Automation	Yes	No
Orders	Yes, auto calculated based on dependencies.	No. Order is not calculated for the action item tasks.
Time calculation	Event tasks time is rolled up to activated plans, and impacted assets	No. Time is not rolled up for the action item tasks.

Roles associated with action items

The roles associated with action items are listed in the table.

Table 3. Roles associated with action item tasks
Role	Description
Plan owner	Can create, read, update, and delete action items when the plan owner is the event owner.
Program managers	Can create, read, update, and delete action items for all events.
Viewers	Can read all action items.
Recovery event/Plan owner	Can read and update all action items that they are assigned to.