Three essential elements of every good business continuity plan

Sometimes drastic things happen to a business or business premises, and in those situations, people can panic.

What if you lose all power, data, internet, or half of your workforce? How are you going to get through the darkest days of your working life? This is where a business continuity plan comes in. A fail-safe, if you like. Let’s discuss what a business continuity plan is, and then we will give you 3 essential elements that should be included in every good business plan. Read on to find out everything you need to know.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is a document drawn up by business owners or managers detailing how a business will continue to operate in the event of an emergency or disaster. For example, in the unlikely event that your business loses all computing power, you need to have a plan in place for switching to paper or restoring power. A business continuity plan should be tested with mock scenarios and planning meetings. But what should be in such a plan?

Telephones and Communications

Losing all communications between departments in a business, or even all external communications could be a disaster for any company. If you lose the ability to answer external calls, consider an emergency call answering service. This is an outsourced, external company that will be available at the drop of a hat to take over your phone lines and take messages, or even redirect calls to employees’ mobile phones, bypassing your broken phone lines remotely. This can be a lifesaver in a time of communication crisis. Internally, of course, messages can be run by paper or mobile phones, but you still need to meticulously detail how this will work to avoid people running the halls in a frenzy trying to find each other.

Network and Data

One of the most common business interruptions is computing or network outage. Losing access to your centralized network or data can cause the business to grind to a halt. You may keep paper records of important data, and while this can be relied on for some issues it may not suffice for a full business operation. Consider saving local files to each computer that would at least allow employees to carry out their most useful tasks while resorting to paper or memory for other jobs.

Role Management

Every employee must know their role in times of emergency. As we said, you don’t want people falling into a state of panic. Assign roles to senior management. Someone can be in charge of organizing communication between business areas. Another could be in charge of sourcing repairs or external help. Every employee from the bottom to the top should know where they fit and how they are to operate in one of these scenarios. This is also why it is key to run drills, practicing for unfortunate events.

These three key points are our most recommended facets of a business continuity plan. With at least these three assigned items, you will be able to keep your business flowing in times of disaster. Planning and running sessions are key to business continuity.