Business continuity planning
Business continuity plans what you need to know
No one can predict the future, and unfortunately, emergencies can and do happen.
Whether it’s an outbreak of coronavirus, a power shortage, a natural disaster, a shortage of materials, a global crisis, or even a staff shortage, these events can severely disrupt your business or even force it to close completely.
That’s why you need to create a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
It can help you mitigate some of the risks, improve efficiency, and show your customers, employees, and shareholders that you care.
Here are the simple steps you can take to create your business continuity plan.
1. Create a team
When you start laying the foundations for your Business Contingency Plan, you should first select a group of people responsible for the project.
They will conduct the required reviews and assessments, ensure you have the necessary supplies, perform trial runs and develop new training should it be required. Who you choose to include depends on how large your organisation is and the risks faced- a smaller business is unlikely to require many team members.
However, you should always ensure that there’s one person who is in charge overall and has the required authority.
2. Identify the potential problems
Creating an effective plan depends on understanding the risks you face and what kind of disruptions your business could experience. By taking time on this step, you can better understand what could be required and what needs to be prioritized.
This could include potential problems such as power cuts, staff shortages, a COVID-19 outbreak, a shortage of materials, and so on. There might also be several risks or potential problems that are unique to your business.
With this information, create a detailed list that explains each of these risks, then consider how significant an impact each of these factors would have on your business.
3. Decide on the essentials
Identifying the risks is useful, but by itself, it won’t help you find a streamlined solution. That’s why your next step should be dividing these risks into a hierarchy of needs: essential, useful, and optimal.
For example, you may find that you cannot operate without a reliable power supply and would be forced to completely shut down operations.
Perhaps you need a minimum number of staff members on duty to operate machinery or serve your customers. Would an outbreak of COVID-19 force your business to close temporarily?
Bear in mind that the essentials might not always be immediately apparent. For example, they may be required to satisfy specific regulations or affect health and safety adversely.
4. Consider the solutions
Using this information, you can consider which potential solutions could minimise the impact each of these disruptions could have on your business.
Perhaps this would involve investing in an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system to keep your electrical items online 24-7. Or contacting an additional supplier that could cover any shortages if required.
As you do this, consider whether your staff need any specific skills, additional training, or further information to help them carry out these jobs.
If so, are there any members of staff who are best suited to the job? Do you need to employ a new team member such as an IT expert who could help in times of crisis?
5. Create a plan
Once you’ve put together your team, gathered the information, considered solutions, and allocated staff members or resources, it’s time to get your Business Continuity Plan down on paper.
Be as clear and precise as you can when you do this, identifying a range of likely scenarios with detailed advice on what staff members should do in case of a crisis. Include essential information such as which steps need to be taken, who to contact, which staff members are responsible or have authority, and so on.
6. Tell your staff
Ensure every member of your staff knows that you have a BCP, how to access the information required, who to contact, and so on. Start with a general staff meeting and invite questions or feedback from every member of your team. Whenever you hire a new staff member, make sure you take them through the plan (in as much detail as you like).
It would help if you also considered doing a trial run such as testing the fire alarm, testing your UPS system, and so on. This will allow you to practice your plan and identify any potential weaknesses that could be improved.
Although we can’t avoid emergencies and disruptions altogether, creating a Business Continuity Plan can help reduce the impact these can have on your business and ensure uninterrupted service for both yourself and your customers alike.