Business As Usual (B.A.U) | Meaning and Definition

What is Business As Usual (B.A.U)? 

The full form of BAU is Business As Usual. It refers to the standard business operations and activities that need to be done to keep the core of business running. In layman’s terms, B.A.U. is the day-to-day routine activities within an organization.

B.A.U. in OKR Framework

In the context of the OKR framework, Business As Usual is synonymous with KPIs. KPIs are the quantitative metrics that are measured to evaluate the success of Objectives. However, Business as Usual is measured irrespective of OKRs. For example – “1200 organic new visitors per day on the Website” is a BAU metric.

Key differences between BAU and Projects

There are certain key differences between BAU and Projects:

  • Projects helps to change the whole business while BAU helps to identify the change
  • Projects helps to manage the risks associated while BAU helps to mitigate those risks
  • Projects have to be completed in a certain time-limit while there is no limit for BAU, they are timeless.
  •  Projects needs to be capitalized while BAU can’t be capitalized
  • Projects involve cross-functional team while BAU involves functional team
  • Projects are non-repetitive or unique while BAU are often repetitive

Onboarding a new employee with BAU

Onboarding or hiring a new employee proves to be challenging that’s why we can hire a new employee with BAU tasks as soon as possible.

The initial step is to share the strategy that how the new hire will benefit the business. Resources should be provided to them so that they can stay updated with the business practices.

The next step is to share these material with new employees for successful onboarding.

Common changes in Business As Usual

The changes made to the normal working practice of business are considered as the changes in BAU. Some examples of these changes are:

  • Internal shifting of an employee from one department to another
  • Changes in working shifts of an employee such as from fixed shift to flexible shift
  • Some changes in the roles and responsibilities of an employee

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

The full form of BAU is Business as usual and it refers to usual operations of our business.

BAU refers to the work or daily activities carried by the individuals daily. 

Business as usual (BAU), the normal execution of standard functional operations within an organization.

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