Let’s start with the basics! What is a business continuity plan?
Simply put, it is instructions and procedures that an establishment follows in the event of a disaster. The disasters can be a cyber-attack, fires, floods, or one of many other causes of the disaster.
Having a continuity plan saves your business the hassle of starting right from scratch in case you face any destruction of property. Rarely do we get a notice that a disaster is about to happen. Even in the presence of notice, some things still go wrong, and thus the need for a continuity plan goes without mention.
This post will share five tips for coming up with a business continuity plan. They include:
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Spot and record all potential issues
In case something happens, you should have an idea of what will happen when you reduce, eliminate or modify some organisation’s services. After identifying all the issues that may come up because of the disruption of normal service delivery, you must then curate action plans for each issue.
The action plans will have detailed steps and procedures on how to solve the issues that came up. You must also identify individuals in the organisation that will be responsible for implementing the action plan. It will be very helpful in avoiding confusion.
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Build an emergency response team
Having individuals who are responsible, emergency response protocols might come in handy when addressing the disaster. You can pick several individuals to head the response project.
You must also pick a team leader who will be in charge of the committee of individuals. The leader must be a smart person who can actually get things done.
The individuals can also be responsible for designing the continuity plan after they have done their research adequately. The research should give them an idea of potential threats and the best ways of addressing each.
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Identify critical services
When an emergency happens, the chances are that your business will encounter an interruption in the normal service delivery due to some reasons. They include:
- Inadequate supply of materials and products
- High absenteeism of staff members
- Power outages and destruction of communication systems
Your continuity plan should have detailed insights into how your business will maintain critical services even in the face of emergency occurrences. If your business does not manage to provide these services, you may face a massive loss of income or negative impacts.
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Draft up a plan for each essential/critical service
Since you may face certain risks if you do not manage to provide the essential services, you need to plan. The plan should include:
- Action plans
- Resources needed
- A detailed description of the service
- Impacts on the business
You may also include key contacts you need to get in touch with if you face an emergency. It may save you time and money you may need to get back on your feet.
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Build a plan to maintain operations
It will come in handy, especially because you cannot afford to close shop. After all, it is the whole point of the continuity plan, right? You must also include a plan to maintain partial or full-service provision to your clients. It will help mitigate losses that may have ensued.
In conclusion, you need to test if your plan works. You can initiate an emergency drill in your business and put the plan in action. Through the results of this test run, you can modify your initial continuity plan and make it better.
