Disaster planning is the key to ensuring the continuity of operations. The last thing any company wants to see happening is the disruption of business due to natural or manmade disasters. Having a disaster plan for your business is an essential part of any company. However, you will need to avoid several mistakes when developing your Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
Your operations may seem to be flawless and fail proof, but complications can happen at any time. When an unexpected event takes place, it is important to have a business continuity plan to keep the business going. Your BCP outlines how your business will continue its operations during unplanned disruptions. BCP is more comprehensive than a disaster recovery plan and features contingency plans for processes, human resources, assets, and partners. There will be a checklist for equipment and supplies, data backups, and information on emergency responders.
BCP may vary from company to company. Generally, the objective of a BCP is to help you overcome the various issues associated with an unplanned disruption and to re-establish productivity. Below we have outlined the eight biggest mistakes you need to avoid when creating your business continuity plan.
8 Mistakes to Avoid when Creating a Business Continuity Plan
#1 Disregarding Your Employees
Employees play an important part in the daily operations of an organisation. Creating a BCP plan should focus on the needs of employees and how they should react during disruptions. The plan should include emergency communication protocols, evacuation routes, recovery strategies, among other key details. This plan should be comprehensive in addressing all critical areas of the business. It should identify who oversees the respective areas. Your employees should also be involved in the planning and testing so that they will gain familiarity when they need to perform during an actual emergency.
#2 Missing Out the Small Details
Like any other type of planning, it is quite common to miss out on the smaller details in BCP. You may have a general plan in place, but the minor points are the areas that could break the entire planning. The areas that are commonly missed include logistical considerations, medical aid support, and accessibility. Take the smallest detail into account to get a better success of your BCP in event of an unexpected disruption.
#3 Failure to Include Your Employees in the Planning
Your employees are integral to the success of your BCP. They will need to be well-versed with your overall BCP planning to perform their roles when the need arises. Include your employees when you are drafting the Business Continuity Plan. Take in their input and concerns, so that they have ownership of the plan. Finally, ensure that all employees are trained so that they are familiar with their roles and responsibilities when disaster happens.
#4 Prioritising Operational Continuity Over Team Safety
The operational continuity of your business can only happen if you have your employees to work on it. When an incident occurs, it is natural for business owners to focus on assessing the effects on their business. Nevertheless, neglecting your employee’s safety and well-being can have dire consequences. Your people are crucial to your BCP execution, so you will need to make sure that your employees are safe and reachable after a crisis. Your crisis management task force should be contactable and ready to act and get everything back up quickly.
#5 Improper Tech Solutions
Do not wait for disasters to strike before you start to set up backups for your systems. If you do not have the proper technology to mitigate disasters, you could be exposing your business to huge risks, revenue loss, and prolonged downtime. To prevent this, speak to a technology specialist to verify that your system is ready for any disasters. Your system should be able to restore backups and minimise downtime when there is an emergency.
#6 The Sole Person Managing the Plan
It is possible to develop an entire Business Continuity Plan by yourself, but it may not be the best approach. Gather people from different departments to account for all contingencies. The team’s input and insights into all the processes are crucial to the success of your planning. Form a BBCP management team to cover the multiple functions and departments to get a company-wide perspective. Involve everyone in the planning to give them a sense of ownership towards the BCP.
#7 Using Broad Generalisations
Avoid drafting up a BCP with broad generalisations as it can lead to more questions, uncertainty. Be concise in your plans and elaborate every step in detail to cover all bases. This will help everyone in the team to understand the direction and their roles.
#8 Skipping RIsk Assessment
Risk assessments are a critical step before you begin developing BCP. Begin with a thorough assessment of the potential risk in your business before you begin the planning. Every company faces diverse types of risk; thus, it is important to plan for disaster recovery tailored to your type of business, geographic location, natural disaster, and activities.
Don't Let Your Operations Grind to a Halt
A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a set of policies and procedures to safeguard the survival of an organisation in case of disasters. Businesses can experience disruption from natural and man-made disasters. Flood, earthquakes, fires, hacking attempts, and Covid-19 are just an example of disasters.
A detailed BCP goes a long way in improving your response to disasters. Avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes will put you on the right track and help your staff cope with new conditions more easily.
If you need help in creating your BCP, give us a call today. Let’s have an obligation-free chat to determine how we can help you.
