200 words... Whatever!

I recently set a miniscule goal for myself to write 200 words a day. A goal I figure is pretty easily attainable in my busy schedule.  But, when you have to be to work around 6:30am and tonight I didn't finish until 9pm, this tiny goal caused me to whine to my fiancé Robert.
"It's only 200 words!" I complained on my way through the kitchen as we were on our way to bed. "I should be able to crank out 200 words easy." Robert being the "special" man that he is simply replied, "Honey all you have to do is write your name 199 times."
This got me thinking. I know Robert.  I know him well. My love for him is as deep as his need to be a smart alec. I immediately went to where is he trying to "get me" with this one? I just knew there had to be a catch somewhere.
I started the calculations. By my count, writing "your name" 199 times would equal 398 words. I of course had to inform him of my excellent math skills. That's when he told me "Well of course if you write your full name 199 times it would be more than 200."
Hold it! Now he switched it up! It's gotta be a new trick! "Your full name" 199 times would equal 597 words! Ha! I had him! I once more had to inform him of my wonderful math skills.
He just smiled. He actually just smiled and explained that I was over complicating it. Just my name. Just Kathy. 199 times.
The look on my face must of been really good. He just smiled bigger as he watched me try to figure out how Kathy 199 times equaled 200 words. That's when he knew he had me. I was forced to give up.
"OK, my name 199 times is not 200." I said.
"Of course it is dear" he calmly replied. "You already put your name at the top of the paper."
UGH! I should have seen that coming! I guess also well that ends well. He did get me to write 200 words. I am not going to count them, but it's gotta be close. AND after the little exchange cranking out the 200 words wasn't so hard.
Thanks Robert!

Welcome to Whatever

Welcome to Whatever this turns out to be. Let me start by introducing myself a little.  I am currently 43 years old and the biological  parent of 6 amazing children. I am also fortunate to be the unofficial parent to 6 other amazing persons.
I love to read and write and explore my home state of Iowa.
I have had many occupations through the years.  Telemarketing, insurance sales, bar tending, brake specialist, research associate, field laborer, safety technician, warehouse supervisor, and the most important of all Mom.
It is my hope that I can share a little of whatever I see or do or know with you dear reader.
Wish me luck. Especially since I have to type this all on my android since my laptop is down. Til next time - kathy

Is your business ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?

Ok, Ok.. So maybe the Zombie apocalypse is a little far fetched, even though my 16 year old son is positive it could happen any day. ( I have not started collecting bottle caps to use as currency yet either for the aforementioned disaster) So how about a flu epidemic? Or a natural disaster? Or death of key management personnel? These are things that can bring any business to a grinding halt if not properly planned for.

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?) 

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.