What companies often get wrong about business continuity

Most business owners know that having a business continuity plan (BCP) is key to keeping their business running after a disaster strikes. Despite the best planning efforts, there are still some small details that can derail a BCP. Keep reading to find out the top five business continuity planning mistakes to avoid.

Mistake 1: Not considering the small details

Once your company has the “big” plan, there are many small details that need to be considered, such as where users will work, how medical treatment would be delivered if needed, and who would support any technology issues that arise, if the usual team is not available?

For example, what if your key personnel in the office need to request medical support and emergency numbers like 911 are saturated? Your BCP might include such details. Also, your employees need to know how to access company data if they can’t be in the office. While recent events may have enabled remote access for many employees, an alternate method may be needed. Talking through the tiniest details in the day-to-day workflow for employees can help build out the finer points in the BCP and reduce the chances of surprises.

Mistake 2: Failing to plan for employees

Your employees are your most valuable asset, so planning for their safety, evacuation, and possible work disruption are all critical to your business recovery after a disaster. Take the time to discuss the BCP with employees, and ask for feedback on the processes, to ferret out any missing details or overlooked critical activities. Advanced planning will help your employees to understand what to do in the event of a disaster, as well as showing support for their well-being through a crisis.

Mistake 3: Not showing your employees how the BCP works

Downtime is a critical issue for businesses, however, employees need to understand the plan, so they can execute it as efficiently as possible. Loss of productivity can be minimized, if your employees know what steps to take such as who to contact first, and how to respond to customer inquiries while critical systems are being restored.

Preparedness is key, so taking the time to walk through the processes with employees, including actions such as going remote due to damage to the main office and confirming the expected activities by each person will go a long way. “Going through the motions” of a disaster scenario will help your employees to have confidence in their performance in an actual emergency.

Mistake 4: Putting greater priority on operational continuity over employee safety

When disaster happens, of course business owners will want to know how business operations have been affected. However, focusing on operational continuity over employees’ well-being and safety will have consequences.

Check on your employees first, as they are the most important element in executing your BCP. A great plan with no one available to execute it, is useless. Prioritizing employees with crisis management support to make sure they are in a position to work, will help them get back on the job more quickly.

Mistake 5: Not having the right tech solutions in place

Don’t wait for disaster to happen, before planning for alternate communication methods. Don’t wait for your company data to be hacked, before planning increased security measures. Having the right technology in place before an incident happens, will provide the tools to deflect or mitigate the situation and reduce risk of extensive downtime or significant revenue loss.

Discuss possible disaster scenarios with your IT team to ensure you have the right technology solutions in place, and a plan for using them, to minimize disruption of business operations.

Want to learn more about business continuity and how it can help your business?

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Beringer Technology Group, a leading Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and CRM for Distribution also provides expert Managed IT Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Cloud Based Computing, Email Security Implementation and Training, Unified Communication Solutions, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.