Business Continuity plan roadtest -bought to you by COVID-19
This is the time the rubber hits the road in terms of businesses’ ability to survive (and thrive) in difficult times – employees working from home, remote meetings and events, IT systems stretched and the economy a rodeo ride of uncertainty.
I met with a mid-market business owner about 12 months ago in Melbourne, as we completed the non-financial/operational analysis of his business and got to Business Continuity Planning, he simply said: “we have one – we prepared it for the bank years ago – it’s bullshit but we have it!”
I wonder how he is going this week with the incidence of COVID-19?
A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is designed to manage exactly what we are going through right now. Here are some of the questions the plan will address:
- How does the business continue if we can’t use the office, access our files or hold face to face meetings?
- What is the best way to manage staff remotely?
- Will our IT system cope with 80 people “logging in from home”?
- Will customers still get looked after, services provided, invoices raised and ultimately money still flow through our bank account?
A good BCP should cover all of these issues and more. It should provide detailed instructions as to how the business should be managed in multiple circumstances not just COVID-19, but the recent bushfires, floods and other natural disasters we regularly encounter in Australia.
If you haven’t already got this in hand, then follow this 6-step guide to “catch up“ and get on top:
Step one: List all of the potential areas which need attention and their solutions.
Some of the areas would include:
- Phone answering
- IT systems (including data security as employee use “home” internet connections)
- Deliveries (both outbound and inbound)
- Field visits or service calls
- Compliance – lodgements, payments and banking
- Employee/HR issues and solutions
Step 2: Rate them in terms of two key factors
- Likelihood (how likely is this issue to arise/occur) and
- Impact (if it does occur how seriously will it impact the business)
Then, give each a score out of ten
Step 3: Rank them in order of importance – likelihood and impact (high to low)
Step 4: Start at the top of your list
Those most likely to occur and with the highest impact – these are the things that could cause maximum damage and should be addressed first.
Step 5: For each, you need a short simple step by step guide on how to handle/manage this risk/issue
Step 6: Communicate (more than you think you need to) to all stakeholders regularly – outline the plan and update if things change.
Then once this is all over and things settle back down (don’t worry too much, they will eventually), I suggest you allocate some time to do this properly so if and when the next unplanned event comes along – you, your business and your team are better prepared.
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3yHey Craig, this was incredibly valuable and insightful right at the beginning of the pandemic... and equally valuable today. If business owners could have had your advice and assistance, they would have been able to weather the storm better, over the last 12 months.
Partner @ Thomson Geer | Employment, safety, discrimination law. Special interests in education and sport sectors
4yVery practical and sensible advice!
Here we go again.
Disruptor, Crusader for Business Owners, Helping Advisors Engage with a $14 Trillion Currently in Transition, Consultant on the Effective Use of Video, and Don't Need Help with Pronouns
4yGood road map. Business owners would be wise to use this time to plan and protect their greatest asset. I’ll repeat my suggestion for a basic first step in the process. “Document every login and password. Share it with someone you trust.”
Principal Consultant at Tangelo Advice Consulting
4yCouldn’t agree more Craig, thanks for the article