If a major disaster strikes, such as fire, flood, or pandemic, numerous business enterprises will be at great risk of losing profits, harming their reputation, or worse, be forced to close all together. The good news is that creating a comprehensive business continuity plan will be significant in preventing extensive damage in the long run.
Here are ten areas that should be incorporated in an emergency preparedness and business continuity plan:
- Defining roles
Identify who will be responsible for the creation and execution of the business continuity and emergency preparedness plan. This role is typically assumed by a facility management expert or an in-house facility management team.
2. Identify mission-critical functions
Give priority to functions so that you can identify which elements should be dedicated with resources that need protection and which concerns need to be addressed first in case of emergency.
3. Identify risks
Make an assessment and analysis of vulnerabilities, especially with mission-critical functions and determine their likelihood.
4. Compute costs
Make a rough estimate of the cost during downtime, as well as the cost of emergency preparedness and business continuity planning.
5. Constant monitoring
Use manpower and technologies to resolve disasters before they strike.
6. Continuous communication
Make sure to establish a post-emergency communications strategy is resilient and strong.
7. Testing
Make sure that all elements of your plan are in excellent working order for quick and efficient implementation.
8. Practice
Whenever possible, conduct live drills or simulations to test and practice preparedness.
9. Adapt and adjust
A plan should be organic, not something that you simply write and store in file. You need to make regular adjustments based on testing, implementation, and ever-changing situations and priorities within your business organisation.
10. Crowdsourcing
Create a network of strategic partners and facility management professionals where you can go to for expert advice when disaster and emergencies strike.
These steps will simplify a company’s emergency prepared and business continuity. It is important to make all members of an organisation that preparedness and business continuity is an organisation’s lifeline and without it, a business may collapse sooner than later. Of course, no organisational leader would like for this to happen to their business but preparing for any type of crisis is vital to ensure that a business stays afloat and stable over time.
The Steps in Building a Business Continuity Plan
The implementation and execution of a company-wide plan for emergency cases is crucial, especially in this day and age wherein a vast majority of businesses depend on digital communication, operations, and data management and storage. Furthermore, there many resources and tools that can be used to create a template for a business continuity plan and applying it within almost any type of organisation.
Listed below are the important processes that make up a continuity plan that prepares companies when facing risks and serious dangers that pose a threat to business stability.
- Prevention strategies
It is important for companies to assess and analyse existing current recovery capabilities and how they can be improved to address the needs under different types of risks or threats. Learning how to implement preparedness starts with the creation of prevention strategies. This will include actions that need to be enforced as a preventive measure even before a disaster can even strike your business.
While conducting a business impact analysis, you will identify areas that could use mitigation. This could include the need for backup providers for utilities and generators nearby. You may also need to create alternative communication networks or remote substitutes for employees during emergency cases.
- Response strategies
It is also crucial to formulate a detailed response strategy in place for each department within your business organisation. This will include the roles of each member of the business continuity plan should assume in cases of emergency. For instance, if there is a need for emergency evacuation, certain steps and procedures need to be implemented as well as safety protocols to protect as many assets and employees, too. Response strategies should also include when and how a business organisation may contact the public, media, and other organisations to notify any disruption to business operations.
- Recovery strategies
After a crisis has been contained or stabilised, certain steps need to be created and implemented for recovery. At this stage, there should exist an outline of what they are and who will be responsible for implementation. For instance, creating an alternative method or process to get the company operational again or an alternative facility that the company may use during the process of recovery should be determined to ensure continuity of business operation.
