No business regrets having a solid business continuity and disaster management plan once a disasters strikes.  However, the token business continuity plans are worthless in actual disasters.  It is worth the time and the costs to do the planning right.

A means of accounting for and contacting staff, visitors and anyone on site in the event of a major incident should be included in the disaster management plan.  Emergency damage assessment, identifying shelters, assembly, travel, and relocation policies should be devised, agreed upon and communicated.

Emergency Management - Command and Control

A crisis command and control center needs to be established immediately when disaster strikes.  Information is critical, and a good plan has thought through the implementation of communications to the control center.

In the event of a major disaster, key staff and personal should know what to do, and what tasks the company is relying on them to complete.  When communicating these emergency tasks, succession planning and natural attrition should be considered and addressed.

Do not overlook communications and public relations when developing your company’s disaster management strategies. Cover media management thoroughly with employees.  Everyone should know and understand the media policy for the company, and procedures to follow.

Disaster management should also include a plan for contacting suppliers, business partners, or other key relationships, keeping them informed and reassured.  It is also important to require that key suppliers also have effective (according to industry standards) BC management in place.

Some companies have found it helpful to segment their management plans for a disaster.  A few ideas for segmenting are below:

• Initial response

• Medium to longer-term response

• Handover from crisis management

• Recovery phase (people, assets, IT, etc.)

• Virtual recovery

• Physical recovery

• Regional recovery

• National recovery

• International recovery

• Suppliers plans and contractual obligations

• Outsourcer plans and contractual obligations

A Successful Business Continuity Plan – Management Before the Disaster

Successful BC management disaster planning does not end.  To ensure a viable ongoing BC management plan, the BC manager should continue to update and audit the plan, as the company grows and policies change. 

Testing - The Disaster Plan

It is also important to have ongoing training and awareness of the disaster management plan.  When possible, it is good to ‘exercise’ the plan.  Have a trial run.  Find the flaws before the disaster.  Proper management of the business continuity and disaster management plan is not an isolated function.  It should involve all critical functions of the company.  Many companies have found it helpful to have an interactive exercise testing readiness and response for the most likely disaster scenarios.  This seems to clearly point out the new issues which can be addressed and updated in the business continuity plan.

Business Continuity Thinking - Changing the Corporate Culture

Corporations should strive to integrate the need for business continuity and disaster managing within their business processes and management culture.  Successful BC programs educate and reassure all staff.  BCM and disaster planning should be a required part of any proposals for capital expenditures, or new projects within the company.  Many corporations have found it helpful to develop the awareness and build the culture by considering BC issues – management and planning – in annual performance reviews.

Testing and Retesting - The BC Plan

The plan should be exercised, verified and updated at least twice a year.  It should also consider time of day, special circumstances, community events, and varying levels of impact.  The revelations from these exercises should be included and considered in future BC updates.

Effective Disaster Control- Necessary Dynamic in Today's Corporations

Disaster management is the newest hurdle top managers face in running successful companies today.  Managing a disaster is so vital that entire business industries have been created around critical planning.  Instilling leadership qualities and a disaster management plan is part of the human capital management dynamic of today's corporation.

Next see:  Disaster Recovery

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