Dealing with Epidemics
One of the first tasks I was set in one of my roles was to prepare our office’s “Bird Flu” plan. At the time, this virus was moving quickly thanks to its transmission by members of the avian community. This increased the challenge as, unlike people, you can’t test birds flying over your borders for infection.
When planning how to deal with an epidemic, there are certain steps I found one could (and should) take:
Understand it - information includes (but is not limited to):
- How/where does/did it arise (e.g. unsafe animal husbandry practices)?
- What are the symptoms?
- How is it transmitted?
- When are carriers infectious (before or when they show symptoms)?
- How easy is it to check for the virus (e.g. temperature checking, or is specialist equipment needed)?
- What is the infection rate?
- How is it transmitted (air, bodily contact, touching objects)?
- What happens to those found to be carrying it (simple medication, isolation)?
- Who is most at risk?
From this, we can start to develop our ideas and strategies. For example:
What will be the impact on our own business?
- How will it impact delivery of vital goods/services by suppliers?
- What are their plans?
- What could be the impact on our colleagues/staff?
- What happens if (say) 50% caught the virus/had to care for family members who had caught it?
- Would local medical facilities be able to cope with a surge in infected victims?
- What legal implications (if any) do we face if people become infected on our premises?
How can we protect ourselves, our colleagues, their families and our business?
- Isolation methods (masks, increased hygiene, increase frequency and intensity of cleaning, quarantine)?
- What protocols do we have for isolation, communication, safety?
- Work from home?
- Avoid public areas as much as possible?
- Halt all business travel?
Local authorities:
- What guidelines (if any) have they given?
- What immediate action is needed/can be taken?
- What do we need to report to them?
- What support can we expect from them?
- Whom should we turn to for advice and support?
Contingency plans:
- At what point (if any) do we close the business temporarily?
- Which customers could be impacted the most?
- What are the likely costs (e.g. lost business, litigation, reputation)?
- How soon can we resume “Business as Usual”?
- Do we have the finances to support a long period of closure?
The what why when how where who questions come into their own when it comes to this sort of thing. One hopes that the plan remains “on the shelf” and never has to be used.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Crisis Management, Customer Care, Leadership, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 07:35
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