Cost management is always a top concern for any organization. This is true even for important functions like emergency preparedness. While essential, comprehensive business continuity planning can seem like a complicated and resource-intensive process as it includes conducting a business impact analysis, developing a plan, testing the plan, training staff, etc. However, that does not have to be your reality.
Trust is the foundation of relationships. When your organization faces an emergency, communications to your employees, customers, and other stakeholders, or lack thereof, can support or erode that foundation. Protect your organization’s reputation and relationships by being prepared to communicate in a crisis.
Crises come in many forms and require your organization to take a range of preparatory steps. But most crises impact your organization’s finances, and, for this reason, financial preparedness is a critical part of emergency preparedness. Measures you take in advance and during an incident will help your organization weather the crisis and thrive afterward.
A business impact analysis (BIA) identifies potential impact of a disruption to your organization’s essential processes. The results of this analysis provide you with the information needed to prioritize business continuity planning, resource, and recovery efforts.
When a crisis occurs, being prepared while maintaining open and honest communication is critical. This document provides specific guidelines for those needing to act as a spokesperson.
Document the critical processes to be recovered.
Organizations operate within a network and if any part of that network stops functioning the whole thing has problems. Therefore, it is important to work together to ensure that all of your partners are able to function well after a disaster.
Succession planning is critical in disaster situations. Identify, in advance, who will be responsible for important decisions and assign at least one back up. For example, who can approve and/or access funds for emergency services or supplies if the individual who normally makes those decisions is unavailable.
Use your Ready Rating Assessment Report to help you identify activities that will (1) ensure you have plans in place to respond and recover from disruptions and (2) build awareness and experience within your organization. Summarize any issues or areas of improvement along with suggested solutions, possible workarounds, and budget impacts. Be sure that each member of the senior management team is clear about obstacles that may be encountered and document any decisions that need to be made. Include recommendations/actions based on the Ready Rating Assessment and Next Steps Report.
Most simply put, assessing an incident can be described as “knowing what is going on around you”. All too often, emotional reactions, shock and chaos can ensue after an incident and for those individuals responsible for an organization, it is important to maintain awareness and provide regular status updates to those involved.
