5 Helpful Tips for Business Continuity Planning

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We rarely get any notice before a natural disaster hits! That is why business continuity planning is extremely important. To give your business a chance at success, you need to plan in case a crisis happens. Whether you are part of a big company or a small business, a continuity plan will provide instructions and procedures to follow during a crisis.

The lack of a business continuity plan means you will take longer recovering from a disaster or be out of business entirely. In the past, businesses would only prepare for natural disasters, but thanks to technological advancements, there is a wide range of threats to plan for.   

Here are five helpful tips to help you with your business continuity planning. 

  • Identify Potential Disasters
    The best way to start is to create a list of potential threats. This list will help because different disasters require different approaches and strategies. Make sure the list touches on different scenarios like blackouts, data breaches, employee strikes, fire, floods, among others.

Identifying potential disasters only helps your business have a timely recovery during a crisis. Listing potential disasters will also help your business stay competitive and focused on improving business operational readiness.

  • Give Out Emergency Contacts
    In the event of a crisis, this should not be time for you to start looking for people’s phone numbers. Ensure that all the emergency contacts are posted where employees can easily access prior to any disaster. You can even go the extra mile and ensure the emergency contacts are programmed into your staff members’ phones.

These contact details can be phone numbers or email addresses. Having these contact information readily available could be the difference between shutting down your business or suffering minimal interruptions.

  • Have A Post-Disaster Recovery Team
    You will need to have a team that will take charge when disaster strikes. The team needs to be aware of their specific responsibilities and roles in advance. Make sure that the recovery team is capable of executing all their roles and responsibilities. A recovery team can also take part in creating a continuity plan for your business.
  • Train The Staff
    An emergency in your place of work can go from zero to a hundred in a second. Regardless of how big or small your workforce is, all the staff members must undergo special training on what to do and what not to do during an emergency.

           Training your staff will help make that extremely stressful period a little easier.

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  • Put Your Plan to The Test
    When testing your plan, ensure all the critical staff members are involved. This test can be a conversation where the team will give responses and procedures on what they will do during different disasters.

The test could also be in the form of drills in which the members involved will actively play out all their roles according to the plan. Ensure you note the results of the test to help improve on areas of weakness.

Conclusion

There are a lot of things that could go wrong at any time! For a business, not having an effective and tested business continuity plan can be dangerous. Having a business continuity plan can help your business avoid big losses and additional expenses. Make sure that your business continuity plan needs to be updated at least every year to cover evolving threats.

 

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