A method includes determining whether a downlink beam signal is being received from a base station (502); when the downlink beam signal is being received from the base station, determining whether a measurable property of the downlink beam signal does not meet a preselected threshold (504); when the downlink beam signal is not being received from the base station or when the measurable property of the downlink beam signal does not meet the preselected threshold, transmitting a message to the base station indicating that at least one uplink beam corresponding to the downlink beam has failed (506); and receiving a reply message from the base station with information required to determine a new uplink beam (508). An alternative method includes determining whether at least one uplink beam signal is being received from a user equipment (602); determining whether a measurable property of the at least one uplink beam signal does not meet a preselected threshold, when the at least one uplink beam signal is being received from the user equipment (604); and transmitting a message to the user equipment to initiate uplink beam recovery, when at least one uplink beam signal is not being received from the user equipment or when the measurable property of the at least one uplink beam signal does not meet the preselected threshold (606).