12 tips to help crisis-proof your agency
By Ted Bleifuss
Quality Assurance Manager/ Corporate Business Resumption Coordinator
Managing ongoing agency activities can sometimes leave little time for long-range planning, but preparing your organization for a catastrophe is something you won’t want to put off. While the likelihood of a terrorist attack at your office is remote, even a quickly contained fire can interrupt business operations by damaging files and computer records.
The goal of disaster planning is to protect staff and assets during and after a disaster and restore primary business functions quickly. Here are some guidelines for getting you started on developing a plan for your agency.
- Identify potential disasters, the likelihood of occurrence, and their potential impact.
Consider the frequency of storms and natural disasters in your geographic area; proximity to power plants, airports, bodies of water or major highways that transport hazardous waste; distance from major metropolitan areas and government centers; past record of area utility service; and, your ability to predict and control potential threats.
- Determine the level of impact to your business.
After identifying potential threats, classify how they would affect your organization:
Level 0 – no impact
Level 1 – some facility/ equipment damage, but operations can resume within two to four hours
Level 2 – moderate damage, but operations can resume within four to eight hours
Level 3 – major facility and computer damage that will interrupt business operations for more than 24 hours.
- Draft emergency/evacuation procedures.
All staff should be aware of emergency procedures, and they should be tested regularly.
- Identify the functions/processes critical to your organization and how to restore them.
For each function, include high priority tasks, temporary operating procedures, facility and equipment requirements, and supplies needed.
- Develop a list of important phone numbers.
List fire and police, hospitals, and primary utility companies. Include vendors like banks, post offices, regulatory agencies, and computer software and hardware suppliers.
- Choose an alternate location for your business.
Consider available commercial office space, area hotels, or a local business partner who could rent you space.
- Develop a computer backup and off-site storage plan.
It is crucial to getting your business back on its feet that you have regular procedures for backing up your computer files, storing all data in a safe off-site location, and restoring your application systems and computer files.
- Keep an up-to-date list of all employees off-site.
Make sure it includes family members who should be contacted in an emergency. If you need to reach employees after hours, you can implement a phone tree or activate a special hotline number.
- Assemble a team and identify individual responsibilities.
A core business recovery team should be created so all employees know who would do what during and after a disaster. You may want to identify major areas of responsibility and create several sub-teams. Keep home phone, cell phone and pager numbers for critical team members so you can quickly communicate what happened, status of recovery, and where they should report.
- Draft sample communications materials and name a spokesperson.
Even minor newsmaking scenarios can affect your organization’s credibility in the eyes of your business partners, customers and the general public. Have someone maintain a list of media organizations (phone numbers, fax, and names of individual contacts) and develop sample news releases and public statements that could be customized quickly during a crisis. Identify a primary spokesperson for your organization.
- Test the plan regularly.
If you spend hours developing your business recovery plan and then put it on a shelf, it will be of no value during an actual disaster. You must update the plan at least annually and run test scenarios to identify weaknesses.
- Start with the basics and build on them.
Begin by addressing these major areas. Then test your plan and add to it as needed. Handling a catastrophe is not an easy task, but by developing a plan you can minimize the negative impact a disaster could have on your organization.
About the author: Ted Bleifuss is responsible for General Casualty’s business resumption plan, technical disaster recovery and security administration. He is a certified quality analyst and a member of the Business Resumption Planning Association of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Quality Association Group. He’s been with General Casualty for 20 years.
For more information please contact Anne M. Smith.