How To Pull It Together

Since no one can predict the future, you should invest the time in getting all the information you need in this plan as soon as possible. It could save your business. The first thing to do to accomplish this is to get documentation in place for all key personnel and back up within the company.

This step includes identifying those people who are vital to the functioning of your business, and make a comprehensive list of all of their contact information, and any possible form of contact you have for them. These should be the people within your organization that fill primary positions. In an emergency, you need to know who to contact.

Next, you need to determine who will be able to work from away from the office. These are individuals able to perform their tasks away from the office. Determine who is unable to accomplish this task as well. Insure that those who you consider your critical staff are able to perform their tasks through telecommuting whenever possible.In the next step of the continuity plan, you must lay the groundwork for gathering contacts you need to keep the business running.

This includes any external contacts you have. It is key to have a special list of all contacts your business requires to keep it running.  This should include any IT consultants, attorneys, bankers, and other information.  You should also have all of the local departments available to you including police, hospitals, fire and water services and utility companies on this list: they provide an important service to your organization.

In a situation in which you are in a disaster, where anything and everything could go wrong, you need to have information about your organization available. The next step is to document all of the critical equipment you have.  This includes anything that is important to your business, including any computers with essential information on it, and any other equipment you need to have to perform business. It is also a recommendation that you do have as much information on computer systems on backup, off site in case of a total loss of the home office.  This is necessary for most businesses today.

Document all of your equipment, including information stored on it, as well as software you have. Gather all critical documentation as well. There are plenty of documents your business has that is vital to its function. This includes everything from contracts, to legal paper work to tax returns and even your utility bills.  You need to store these safely, but you should have an ongoing list of these documents so that in an emergency, you know where everything is located.In the next steps of the continuity plan, you must outline what the options you have are.  For example, what contingency options do you have to replace your trucks? What options do you have if all of your computers are down? This process starts to lay out the options and the how to handle steps. Consider all information you have already gathered.  How can you use this information to help you get things back on track.

Next, consider a location. If you cannot work in your home office, where can you work?  How can you get back into the location that's important to you?  The key is to figure out where you can conduct business. You may want to determine if you can work from your attorney's office, or perhaps telecommuting is an option for each of your employees. Determine what works best for your business.

Finally, to get the business continuity plan to work, you must take into consideration each of the items you have identified and put them together in a plan. This step includes making step-by-step plan to handle everything that would need to be handled.  Here, you want to outline what needs to be done in the case of an emergency. Then, identify how it is to be done to keep the business running successfully.  Then, determine whose responsibility in the business it will be to make sure that these tasks are complete as needed.  

In order for this type of disaster plan to work, those who you have labeled as key players will need to be identified carefully and told of the process. They should be educated on what needs to be done and how to do it. It is important not only to tell them that you have a plan but to show them what the plan is and how to follow your instructions on how to handle it. At this time, you also need to test out the business continuity plan. Set aside time to run through the process and to determine how well the plan works.

Be sure each person is able to perform his or her assigned tasks correctly.In many businesses, having this type of plan in place is the difference of the business losing money in a disaster and a business actually putting itself back together afterwards. Even in the worst disasters, businesses are crucial to providing a service to their customers. When a plan is in place, your business is able to make key decisions that will keep it profitable and working through the situation successfully.