| Plan 2- Items For Your Checklist |
| Written by Joseph Roux | |
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As you are putting together a Business Continuity Plan for your small business, make sure to sit down and mentally walk through a normal day or week’s worth of business.
Make a list of the items and procedures that could be affected by a disruption of hours, days, or months - of not being able to utilize the main business facility. What if you lose all or a portion of your equipment either forever, or for a short or long term? You know your key people and their responsibilities, but have you thought about replacing equipment and designation a place to work from? I’ve come up with a few things you can think about, plan for and check off your list. Rental Equipment and ServicesPart of your contingency plan might need to include the name, address and telephone number of several places you can rent items or use the service of another company if you need to utilize your Business Continuity Plan.What if something happened that took out several of your work-related vehicles? Do you know where you can rent trucks or equipment that would get you through until you can replace your inventory? Include the location of nearby business service centers, so you can use their fax and copy machines until you have yours up and working again – or you can get yours replaced. Are there internet cafes in your area where you can utilize a computer and the internet if you had to? Pick A PlaceIf your primary place of business was taken out of service for either the long or short term, where are you going to work? Many owners just think they’ll move the work home with them, but is this really the right decision? How many telephone lines do you have in your house? Where are you going to put everyone?Consider utilizing a business-centric hotel. Many hotels cater to businesses. They have business facilities with fax machines, copiers and multiple telephone lines. Plus they might rent you a conference room or a suite that can more efficiently accommodate your workforce. Other options might be to use a contractor or suppliers office for the short term. Telecommuting might be an option for key employees. The point is, think about it now, choose a location and make sure you include the address and maybe a map in your plan. Formalizing The PlanOnce you’ve identified people, places and things for your plan – you need to organize the plan into a viable document for your workforce. Make it simple, including step-by-step instructions that assign specific individuals to specific actions.List each action item and the person target to do that item, along with a backup person in case the person responsible is on vacation or otherwise not available. Then for each person make a list of their specific responsibilities. You should be able to search the plan by action item, say – contractors – and know that X person is supposed to call the contractors. The reverse of that is that if you look up Jane Smith, you’ll know exactly what items Jane is supposed to cover. Really look at these lists and think about how much is being asked of each individual. The goal is to get up and running quickly. If one person is running around renting equipment, moving the offices and calling all the suppliers and contractors – while everyone else is waiting for this person to get it done, it’s not a very effective plan. Produce a Formal DocumentIf your Business Continuity Plan isn’t put together in one document, housed in three-ring binders and downloaded as a pdf file that can be sent via email or stored in off-site document storage, it’s not going to help. What good is the plan if no one can get to it?Make copies for key personnel and suggest they take the copies home and store them. Consider putting the document in a safe or safety deposit box. Again, an email with attachments can be stored in email folders, or make sure the document is stored online in a backup service. Have quarterly or semi-annual meetings to review the plan and communicate the objectives and responsibilities. This way if you’ve had personnel changes, or one of your backup sites or options goes out of business or moves, you can make appropriate updates to the Business Continuity Plan before it’s too late. You might even consider holding mandatory training classes for all the employees so they know what to do if there is say…an ice storm, or fire. Your BCP should include a way for non-critical employees to be informed of the plan’s implementation so they don’t risk their lives to show up to an empty building. |
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