4/7/2020

No Business Continuity Plan For COVID-19? Start Here.

EDITORS' PICK | 27 views | Apr 7, 2020, 08:00am EDT

No Business Continuity Plan For
COVID-19? Start Here.
Chloe Demrovsky Senior Contributor
Leadership Strategy
I write about risk and resilience both personal and professional.

Time to get a pandemic plan together.

GETTY

From a safe social distance, I’ve been fielding frantic calls from organizations that don’t
have a business continuity plan to help them respond to the spread of the COVID-19
global pandemic. I’ve also gotten calls from those who do, but there is nothing in it forpandemic scenario, which manifests itself differently from natural disasters orcyberattacks.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloedemrovsky/2020/04/07/no-business-continuity-plan-for-covid-19-start-here/#2385fd5a14ef

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No Business Continuity Plan For COVID-19? Start Here.

If you don't have a business continuity plan in place, these basic steps will help get you
started:Pick your players
Get the right team together and identify your goals. Be realistic about what you cansustain and how you should prioritize. It is unlikely that your organization is able tocontinue business as usual right now. That’s why you need to (virtually) bring together
the people who understand your core business competencies well enough to makejudgment calls with limited information. Leadership direction must come from the mossenior levels (CEO and/or Board of Directors). Then form a steering committee that
includes senior representatives from operations, finance, human resources, informatio
technology, and legal as well as input from the heads of your various product or service
lines. If you don't have a plan now, you probably don't have a business continuity
planner on your team. You should identify a member of this core team who can serve inthat function, get educated, and lead your process.
Understand your risks
Identify the current or potential risks that can adversely affect yourorganization. Obviously, this includes the current pandemic, and you should think abou
how you can continue to operate if 35-40 percent of your workforce is out sick. But you
should also dig deeper. For example, work from home opens you up to all kinds of cybe
vulnerabilities and other technical challenges. And the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center announced that they
are anticipating a more severe flood season than usual in parts of the U.S. Once you hav
a list of top risks, assess those risks to determine the potential impacts to yourorganization, enabling you to determine the most effective use of resources to reduce
potential impacts. This process is known as a risk assessment.
Today In: Leadership Strategy

Analyze the impact
Identify and prioritize your organization's key functions and processes to identify which
ones will have the greatest impact if they aren't available. For example, many of us arehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/chloedemrovsky/2020/04/07/no-business-continuity-plan-for-covid-19-start-here/#2385fd5a14ef

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No Business Continuity Plan For COVID-19? Start Here.

currently being forced to test how well we operate without access to our facilities for a
prolonged and ultimately unknowable period of time. Once you've identified how thecurrent scenario will impact your business, you need to analyze the findings to identify
any gaps between your requirements for continuing service levels with minimal
disruption and your current ability to deliver those requirements. This process is know
as a business impact analysis.
Devise a strategy
Use the analysis that you've just done to decide on a plan of action. You will need tocome up with practical, cost-effective strategies to reduce the deficiencies you identified
during the risk assessment and business impact analysis processes. You've identified
what is at risk and how it will hurt your business. Now you can go through andbrainstorm how to minimize those risks with the information and resources you have ahand.
Two key takeaways: First, cash is king during a crisis, so protect cash flow to make sure
you have a cash runway for some time. Figure out what expenses you can cut and checkyour receivable position to see what you can collect. Second, don't assume this will all b
over in two weeks or a month. This is likely to be the new normal for some time. Plan fothat so that you are prepared no matter what happens. You can come up with amoderate and severe scenario and then monitor to see how your indicators are tracking
against them as this crisis unfolds and adjust accordingly.
As a leader, you will need to make tough decisions and keep calm under pressure. Butthat doesn’t mean you should ignore the deeply unsettling emotional side of this crisis.
Do what you can to protect, retain, and support your team as we all work together to fa
the daunting challenge posed by the spread of COVID-19. Studies show that we trust ouown employer above other institutions including the government, media, and businessand by a significant margin. Now is the time to show that trust is earned.

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No Business Continuity Plan For COVID-19? Start Here.

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I am the president and CEO of Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI), where I helporganizations prepare for and recover from disasters both natural and manmade.… Read More
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