1. Assess the risks
Identify potential scenarios that could cause business setbacks. This can range from large-scale events such as natural calamities (typhoon, earthquakes), economic events (recession), to self-contained incidents such as cybersecurity attacks (data leak, hacking) or building accidents (fire, flooding). Having a risk matrix will also help you classify and organise each scenarios into different categories.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) determines risk scenarios based on four major areas of impact: people, processes, profits, and partnerships. You can list down and organise your risk scenarios depending on their effect on these categories.
2. Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)
A BIA serves as the framework to gathering all the information you’ll need to develop your business continuance plan. This is where you can list down the possible consequences from high-risk situations, identify business-critical operations along with the resources (talent and tools) and processes needed to keep them operational.
Steps in Conducting a Business Impact Analysis
The contents and length of a BIA report may vary per organisation. Here is a general checklist you can use to ensure that you have the essential elements in your report.
✓ Investigate and collect information
✓ Analyse the consolidated information
✓ Prepare a report to document and presenting your findings
What to Include in Your Business Impact Analysis Report
The contents and length of a BIA report may vary per organisation. The best BIA reports touch on multiple impact points. We have created this checklist that you can use to ensure that you have the essential elements in your report:
3. Prepare a crisis communications strategy for all stakeholders
A crucial part of your business plan is a communication matrix where you should list employees, business partners, customers, suppliers, and external agencies (such as fire departments and police). Ensure you have all the tools (SMS, email, IM) to maintain two-way contact with your stakeholders, and have a hierarchy to identify which ones to contact first to ask for help or check on their safety.
You can create a stakeholder map as an initial guide on communicating to a certain group. Here’s an example of what you can use:
Stakeholder mapping and legend
• Keep Satisfied – Customers
Give them reassurance that they could access your services and/or products within a predetermined date in accordance with your allowable outage period.
• Manage Closely – Executives, Partners, and Employees
Check on everyone’s status especially for those with business-critical roles and ensure their safety.
• Monitor – External Agencies (Government, Media, Financial Institutions)
Reach out to your local emergency response agencies. Monitor updates on mainstream and social media. Contact your insurance agency if applicable.
• Keep Informed – Recovery Team
During and after the recovery period, coordinate closely with your designated recovery team to provide them the resources they need.
4. Create department-specific (e.g. IT and Financial) Recovery plans for your business
Prepare resource requirements and recovery procedures wherein your technology infrastructure and other office equipment are compromised physically or digitally. Just like setting up your personal emergency fund, consider how much you’ll allot for purchasing new resources. Your department-specific continuity plan should also be regularly updated with data security and insurance policies.
READ MORE: Bulletproof Enterprise Data Security Measures to Protect Your Remote Team
5. Check for occupational health and safety hazards
Inspect your facilities if they’re equipped with working safety features. If you’re leasing an office space, you can coordinate with the building’s administrator to see their emergency response plan and align it with yours. This sample workplace inspection checklist will give you a quick overview of the key areas that you need to keep in mind when visiting your office:
6. Keep your stakeholders updated
It’s important to be transparent with your investors, employees, and more importantly, your customers, to improve your relationship and uphold accountable service. They’ll also appreciate staying abreast of your restoration efforts in the case of inevitable service disruption or delayed product deliveries.
Plan Better with a Business Continuity Step By Step Guide
Once you’ve gathered all the information and have conducted your BIA report, you can start developing your business recovery plan to fit your current environment and goals.
Aside from your gathered data, use the 4Ps framework to guide you in creating your recovery goals. Each action towards recovery should focus on reducing or eliminating risk to your:
• People: ensuring the safety and wellbeing of your customers and staff.
• Processes: maintaining operability with established workflows and usable equipment.
• Profits: generating sufficient revenue for business survival and investment.
• Partnerships: having a conducive environment for your operations through compliance with regulatory agencies and help from local authorities.
Emapta specializes in helping businesses establish a fool-proof business continuity plan through creating outsourced teams in the Philippines. Our infrastructure and technology ensures that business operations run smoothly 24/7. Speak with one of our outsourcing experts today!
READ MORE: See How World-Class IT Infrastructure Empowers Data Security in Outsourcing
Back Up your BCP with a Contingency Plan
During the pandemic, we’ve learned that it was businesses possessing the flexibility to reshape their structure and operations with haste who successfully survived the rapid changes.
How were they able to do it quickly? In the case of our clients, having an office backup location via our network of 14 BCP-ready sites gave their staff optimal space to continue working that resulted in mitigated downtime. Offshoring has significantly broadened their operations too, such that their remote international teams can keep productivity at an all-time high and complete work on behalf of local offices that were closed during lockdowns.
If you want to significantly lower the risk of interruption in your key business functions, consider outsourcing some of your operations to proficient international talent as your contingency plan. So that when certain incidents disrupt your local office, your business is flexible enough to let your offshore team is ready to continue your operations.