Where I work we had to write a Business Continuity Plan. A business continuity plan will guide you or whoever has made it in to work, step by step through the process of (obviously) continuing business.
Making a BCP is a fairly straight forward process. Start by considering what could bring your business to a stand still. Could it be an illness like the feared H1N1 flu? Maybe natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, snowstorms, or floods? Could your business survive the death of key management?
Scenario plan around these disasters. Assign roles and responsibilities to all personnel in your employ, right down to the very bottom of your virtual totem pole. (What would you do if little Kenny Buchenski down the street had to manage the shop for a few days? If he went from bagger to manager in less than 60seconds would he know what to do?)
Scenario plan around these disasters. Assign roles and responsibilities to all personnel in your employ, right down to the very bottom of your virtual totem pole. (What would you do if little Kenny Buchenski down the street had to manage the shop for a few days? If he went from bagger to manager in less than 60seconds would he know what to do?)
Kenny shows up to your store bright and early at 7AM. He's the senior bag boy at B and L grocery. He feels really responsible because at the ripe old age of 19, he has a key to the store and can let himself in. (What he doesn't know is the only reason you gave him the key is so coffee would be made before you got to the shop) As he walks through the building, he turns on lights and veggie misters, finally making his way to the breakroom and the very important coffee pot. While he rinses the pot, the phone rings. Stacy, mother of three and the only cashier scheduled to work the morning has just called to say that not only are her three kids sick but so is she and she is not coming in today. In a complete panic, Kenny calls you. Its almost 8AM. Kenny figures your on your way in anyway and you will know what to do. Kenny wakes you out of a fever induced sleep and reports what is going on in your small business uptown. You mumble something that you vaguly remember as sounding coherent. All kenny got was Top shelf... Office... Blue Binder... BCP...
He scrambles to your office, grabs the blue binder with bold Sharpie inscribed letters on the side, BCP, Flips it open and to his amazement he is saved! He now knows what to do! What information did he find to make him believe, like Virginia, that there is a Santa Claus? He found the following:
Possible scenarios planned for and how to deal with each one
A list of employees with their phone numbers, main roles, and contingency roles
A list of business critical operations that have been prioritized
A list of critical suppliers with their phone numbers and what supplies are received from them
Now little Kenny would not have been in such a tizzy if he had been prepared by you for such a possibility to occur. That's why doing a BCP drill or at a minimum some table top exercises with your employees is absolutely imperative. Had you done this Kenny would have not only known where the binder was in the first place, but he would have known to call your brother Lenny and let him figure it out.
He scrambles to your office, grabs the blue binder with bold Sharpie inscribed letters on the side, BCP, Flips it open and to his amazement he is saved! He now knows what to do! What information did he find to make him believe, like Virginia, that there is a Santa Claus? He found the following:
Possible scenarios planned for and how to deal with each one
A list of employees with their phone numbers, main roles, and contingency roles
A list of business critical operations that have been prioritized
A list of critical suppliers with their phone numbers and what supplies are received from them
Now little Kenny would not have been in such a tizzy if he had been prepared by you for such a possibility to occur. That's why doing a BCP drill or at a minimum some table top exercises with your employees is absolutely imperative. Had you done this Kenny would have not only known where the binder was in the first place, but he would have known to call your brother Lenny and let him figure it out.
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