Clients sometimes ask for a continuity risk assessment in ten days. That pace usually produces a polished slide deck and shallow interviews. Mid-sized firms with multiple sites need room for process owners to speak without rushing past dependencies.
A four-to-six-week window typically covers kick-off, document gathering, workshops, validation, and a ranked report. Stretch beyond that when you include more than three operating sites or heavily regulated product lines that require extra evidence review.
The calendar fails when sponsors treat workshops as optional. Continuity findings depend on people who know the real sequence of work, not only on binders stored in a shared drive.
Ask advisors to state what will be out of scope if time is compressed. Cutting supplier interviews or alternate-site review may be acceptable; skipping critical-activity ranking rarely is.
Treat the assessment end date as the start of plan decisions, not the finish of continuity work. The value arrives when ranked actions become funded edits to procedures and roles.