- 15/03/2022
- by Miguel Sabater
Why Having a Continuity Plan Is a Sign of Great Leadership (And How to Create a Foolproof Plan)
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Your business faces all sorts of threats that can disrupt your operations. A comprehensive continuity plan can help address them.
Carrying on with business as usual is easy when nothing out of the ordinary is happening. But the fact is, crises can strike anytime. And when it happens, you need to be ready to pivot your operations quickly, safely, and efficiently. That’s where a well-thought-out business continuity plan comes into play.
It prepares you for the worst, such as market nosedives and governments shutting down entire countries. And in these cases, your plan allows you to embrace remote work, enabling you to keep functioning and servicing your clients. It also lets you support your team at home and make them feel comfortable through various predicaments.
These are just some of the key benefits that a business continuity plan can bring to your business. And this article will delve deeper into its significance and explain how to create one for your company.
Why Your Business Needs a Continuity Plan
A business continuity plan details a process that your company should take to neutralize and recover from different threats. It can also help protect your business’s assets and personnel during disasters, allowing them to function uninterruptedly.
Business continuity plans are usually developed as part of a company’s overall risk management. This means you should consider creating this plan ahead of time, not in the middle of a crisis. The most significant benefit of creating a business continuity plan is that it provides a clear picture of how to proceed should those threats happen. It also tells you how those circumstances can impact your operations and how to implement procedures to mitigate them. Furthermore, it helps you check if the systems work and are up to date.
Another tremendous advantage of having a continuity plan is its ability to ensure secure and continued access to your systems. It dictates how your team and IT service provider can reach critical platforms, the available bandwidth, and whether you need to boost their network capacity.
The overall effect can be a reduced risk of losing your business and team members. It can safeguard against financial loss, lost productivity, and a damaged reputation. On top of that, it helps protect your employees from injuries or death in case of threats.
Specific threats you can address with a continuity plan
Threat #1. Pandemics
For example, they can force your employees to work from home, increasing demand for some services, and reducing demand for others. Moreover, they can prevent you from distributing your offerings due to supply chain problems.
A business continuity plan can help you overcome these bumpy periods. It formulates how your team will communicate throughout the period and perform business off-site. And it can also provide several options in terms of service distribution.
Threat #2. Natural Disasters
Like global pandemics, they can disrupt the supply chain in affected areas, which is why you need a business continuity plan.
Threat #3. Utility Outages
Threat #4. Cybersecurity
Create the Best Continuity Plan for Your Business
Developing a foolproof continuity plan requires a systematic approach. Here’s what your strategy should involve:
#1. Identifying Goals
So, determine the most important processes and figure out how to back them up with recovery strategies.
#2. Setting up an Emergency Preparedness Group
#3. Business Impact Analysis and Risk Assessment
#4. Focusing on Customer Service
#5. Addressing Business Function
#6. Staff Training and Plan Updates
Following this tactic doesn’t leave much room for error.
Besides helping you maintain business operations and the supply chain, it also builds customer confidence. If your response to emergencies is effective, your customers will appreciate it. This allows you to preserve your brand, prevail over your competition, and mitigate financial loss.
Don’t Let Crises Cripple Your Business
Disasters can be the ultimate test of your leadership abilities.
That’s why instead of leaving your company to chance, create an in-depth business continuity plan before emergencies arise. Make sure everyone is on the same page, and you’ll be able to come out stronger after any predicament.
If you need more insights into developing a continuity plan, get in touch with us today. Let’s set up a 10-15-minute chat to determine your goals and how to achieve them.
This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.