Surface Ripples

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING “IN THE BLEAK MID-WINTER”

I wrote this on the second day of Britain being brought to a halt by heavy snow. The country saw winter come more quickly, with lower temperatures and heavier snow than it did in 2009.

The result? Blocked roads, rail network at minimum efficiency, schools, businesses and airports closed. I’ve also heard stories about employers calling employees who haven’t come into work and threatening them with docked salary or worse.

One of my clients had clearly thought ahead. They sent out an email - short and to the point, giving an emergency contact number and that the company intended to advise their customers of any likely delays in receiving product or reaching customers’ offices. This told their customers and other stakeholders that they were being proactive, that they cared.

So what can you do to make sure that your business has the best chance of running as best it can in conditions such as the UK experienced? You need to look at various issues:

First: what does your company or business actually do? If your business is (say) working from home with visits to customer or client premises, that’s different to a shop on a remote country lane one mile from the nearest main road. Some kinds of business will hardly be affected; others will really feel the impact.

Second: your premises need to be looked at from several angles: their accessibility to you and your staff, to your customers or suppliers, and to other services. Are approach roads likely to be cleared, and will the actual car park also be cleared (it’s surprising how often this doesn’t happen)? I saw that our local Tesco had a small ploughing/gritting machine for the customer car park – that’s what I call service! If there’s a heavy fall of snow during the working day, can you and your staff get away? Can you get to your customers’ premises? Just because you can get out of yours, it doesn’t follow that your customers will be accessible.

Continuing with premises, what are the arrangements for heating, electricity, gas, water? Does your business operate from a Business Centre where the managing company pays utility bills (and have they kept payments up to date)? Does the building rely on a delivery of heating oil (and can this be delivered)? What arrangements does the Business Centre have in the event of severe weather warnings (e.g. to clear approach roads, car parks, etc)? You may find that it could get too cold for your staff or you to function properly if something goes wrong… If you’re the one responsible for paying the bills, make sure your payments are up to date and that any critical supplies of gas or oil are delivered before any snowfall forecast.

Third: how long can you survive without doing any business? If you can be closed for 2-3 days without a problem, then you only start worrying if the snow lasts longer than that. In this case, which services or processes need to be up and running first and therefore have to be given priority? What will be needed to make them work?

Next, who are your “critical” staff – the ones you must have on site? How long can you operate without them? What arrangements may need to be made for them? Who can work from home without jeopardising confidentiality or data protection? Can their phone be diverted to (say) their mobile number (and do they get reception at home)?

Fourth, do you rely on any critical suppliers? These could be for raw materials for your manufacturing process, or stocks of merchandise for sale. Do you have any important deliveries scheduled and will they be made? You need to ask your suppliers what their arrangements are in case of snow. Will they still be able to supply you? If not, how will this impact your ability to supply others? Can you get earlier delivery of critical supplies if there’s a severe weather warning?

Other critical suppliers may be outsourced services such as banking, post, legal advice, your accountant/book keeper, technical services (to name a few). Can they get to you or you to them? What happens if your computers go down and your outsourced IT partner can’t get to you? Do your buyers pay by cheques sent through the post? Can they get to the post office to send their mail? Is mail being delivered to your premises? If not, what impact will this have on your cash flows if cheques can’t be received (and do you need to speak to the bank or not write certain cheques yourself if you can do this)? Can your buyers pay through the internet? Can you pay your suppliers the same way?

How about your buyers? Depending on the business, you may rely on a steady stream of customers during the day (e.g. a café or supermarket). Alternatively, you may rely on despatching your goods by courier, or on customers sending their truck to your warehouse. You’re back to the approaches to your business in this case; if the roads are cleared, you don’t have a problem unless you’re some distance from a road. A consultant based at home may be able to hold meetings by phone with little or no problem.

In the event that you end up “snowbound”, what vital supplies should you have? Have you laid in sufficient stores of stationery and other items (e.g. toilet paper, tea, coffee)?

These are just some the main areas that you’ll need to look. You may know others that are peculiar to your particular circumstances to ensure that you are in a position to cope in some measure with what Mother Nature can throw at you. You might want to apply the same process to flooding as well.

Labels: Crisis Management, Customer Care, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 18:07