33

Chapter 2
Developing a Business Continuity Plan That Addresses Human Issues

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Educating yourself about the elements of a business continuity plan
• An overview of plan requirements
• Putting the core team together
• Creating an Emergency Operations Center
• Communications planning
• The 10 most common reasons for business continuity plan failures

Introduction

Planning for unknown events that may affect the workplace is akin to developing system requirements for new software. No matter how many bright minds get together to consider all the contingencies, there will be some potential outcome that you overlooked, never dreamed of, or could not have even imagined.

First of all, you must adopt the mindset of planning for when you’ll face a disaster, not if. This will help you view the planning process as a necessity to your work and business, rather than as an abstract exercise that’s using up valuable time.

Second, you have to put a plan on paper, developing a number of worst-case scenarios along the way. What if the entire building were 34to burn to the ground or be destroyed in an earthquake, tornado, flood, or explosion? What if a disaster happens during rush hour? During peak business hours? After hours? How would each of these situations affect your plans? What if a disgruntled former employee or customer came armed to your offices and opened fire, killing employees and/or others? What if one or more buses, bridges, or buildings were bombed? These dreaded events occur more often than we like to acknowledge.

So when a traumatic incident occurs, what will you do to help employees and their families get to safety so they can return to work as soon as possible? Where will they return to work? Should you plan now for contingent work space? How much and at what expense? Should you book hotel rooms to house workers temporarily? Where do you start?

Luckily, many resources are available to help you put together a business continuity plan.

Overview of Requirements

To start or update your planning, first check the federal requirements for developing and implementing employee emergency plans. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) general industry standards are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 29, Part 1910, on the OSHA website at www.osha.gov. The more relevant sections of Part 1910, which you can download, include:

• Subpart E—Means of Egress (1910.37 and 1910.38)
• Appendix to Subpart E—Emergency Action Plans (1910.38)
• Subpart H—Hazardous Waste Operations and Response (1910.120)
• Subpart K—Medical and First Aid (1910.151)
• Subpart L—Fire Protection (1910.1551910.165)
• Subpart Z—Toxic and Hazardous Substances (1910.1200)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a standardized format for planning at www.fema.gov/library/bizindex.shtm. We have provided an abbreviated outline of points to consider in the Resources section starting on page 141.

States and industries also may have special standards; for example, California has a mandatory illness and injury prevention program. Your local OSHA office should have the information you need.

35

In the aftermath of 9/11, many books, packaged outlines, and other resources on the topic of disaster preparedness have been made available. Be aware, however, that most of these reference materials do not cover the human elements of such planning, at least not to the extent addressed here.

36

See Table

37

Your Business Continuity Planning Team

The first decision to be made in forming the planning team is how many people to assign to it. For the initial planning and the periodic review and practice, the bigger the better. For managing the details as well as the team, a core team can be assembled. The roles and responsibilities for the core team are listed in Chapter 1 .

The team that puts together the detailed plans should include representatives from all major functions in the organization, such as operations from all of the business units, engineering, finance, research and development, manufacturing, marketing, and IT. Also, if your company is organized based on geography, make sure that representatives from all of the geographic divisions are included; or require that each location develop its own business continuity plan, involving individuals from all of the relevant functions at that location. If some organizational services are centralized, such as HR and communications, make sure that the local planning group has access to those specialized resources.

The core team should include members from the following divisions:

• Human Resources
• Operations (if applicable); this person may be the Incident Commander
• Safety or security; could be ad hoc member
• Communications (or PR)

An HR executive should be designated to lead the core team and the overall planning team. The reasons are threefold:

1. HR already works with all of the major functions in the organization.
2. HR will have the most holistic perspective.
3. The HR influence will ensure that the plan deals with the human issues, not just the mechanics.

Ideally, the CEO will appoint the core team members as well as the rest of the planning team members, and give the team the power to design the plan as they see fit.

38

Experts to Complement Your Planning Team

As you develop, fine-tune, and try out your plan, you may want to seek counsel from resource experts. This is especially important if none of the team members has personally experienced a major disaster. It is essential that the planning be grounded in reality rather than theory.

Chapters of the American Red Cross are ready to help. Professionals from your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Behavioral Health Management resources can advise you or review your plan. Your local chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) may have a list of resources, as may your local Chamber of Commerce. Also check out the Resources section starting on page 133.

Also consider asking trusted individuals, both inside and outside your organization, who are known for their active imaginations and creative thinking to get involved in various aspects of the planning. For example, they can help you challenge your assumptions, imagine and plan scenarios (or review the scenarios you’ve already developed), and vet your work to date. Their different perspectives can help you build a more comprehensive plan.

The Urgency of Planning

Advance planning may be countercultural in your organization. The CEO, possibly along with the board of directors, must make it clear that such planning is a top priority; not only may lives be at stake, but the business itself could perish. If there is resistance at the top, put together a business case showing the risks and benefits of a plan. It all boils down to basic risk management and protecting your profitability. (Ideas for putting together a business case are presented in Chapter 1 , in the discussion of the role of the CFO.)

It is in the shareholders’ interests as well as those of employees and customers to take the time now to plan; the organization will reap multiple benefits should the plan need to be put to use. Your initial goal is to put a planning team in place and put them to work.

39
40

Developing the Plan

The business continuity planning team must view the effort to develop the plan as a serious, if not critical, business project. The team must:

• Set goals, schedules, and deadlines
• Assign standard meeting times for review
• Assign specific project tasks and require periodic written reports and presentations to be submitted to the senior leadership team

Yes, employees may view their participation on this team as volunteer work in addition to their day-to-day-jobs, but they need to understand that it’s crucial work that everyone must tackle and not put off. If need be, include the duties in their position/job descriptions. This is not make-work.

Team members should work both independently and collectively. From an individual perspective, representatives need to determine how their respective functions must prepare, and what they need to do to keep their departments productive and the business running in case of an emergency. In gathering the relevant data, each functional team member must analyze current business capabilities, environmental and business hazards, and the vulnerabilities of company operations and internal systems.

Collectively, the team needs to pull all of the data together and discuss it. With all of the major functions represented, the scope of thinking will be broader and the chances for a quick resumption of business will be greater.

During the discussions, be sure to cover such human issues as employee safety concerns; emergency contact information (local and outside the area); evacuation of employees, especially disabled employees; the need for trauma counseling under a variety of scenarios; workers’ compensation issues; and contingent HR policies such as payroll, hazard pay for those employees working in treacherous conditions, possible benefits continuation for displaced workers, transportation to and from work, leaves of absence, and housing.

Also, consider how you will communicate with each other and with all of the other employees if telecommunications systems go down, including the company e-mail system and phone lines. Who should have satellite phones? What about cell phones with text messaging 41capability? Who within the company should have a personal e-mail account with a provider such as Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and others that may be up if your systems go down? How do you share those e-mail addresses? Do you also set up group accounts and/or bulletin boards?

You also should review your business continuity plan in conjunction with your organization’s other crisis-related plans. For example, your organization is likely to have developed a special crisis communication plan that covers a myriad of possible events, including product tampering, theft of intellectual or proprietary information, hostile takeover attempts, and so on. Some of the same triggers that set off the crisis communication plan will also activate the business continuity plan. It’s important to make sure that you’ll work in tandem rather than at cross purposes when a disaster strikes.

Team Operations: Planning versus Dealing with a Disaster

Throughout the planning process, the team can operate in any way it chooses, provided the team leader and members agree. For example, a self-organized work team approach can work quite well, if that fits your corporate culture. However, regardless of the team structure you adopt for the planning phase, you will need to establish a command-and-control structure for managing a disaster.

As anyone who has experienced a major disaster will tell you, the old-fashioned military “command and control” style, with clearly defined authority and responsibilities, is best suited for running operations during a disaster. Joe Bagan, Senior Vice President of the Southeast Region of Adelphia Communications, says that his team moves from consensus-style discussion and planning to an autocratic structure 24 hours before a hurricane is expected to touch land. The team stays in that mode for at least two to three weeks afterward. Having experienced 14 hurricanes in two years in his territory, which covers Florida, the Carolinas, and Mississippi, Bagan said he and his team are able to execute their plans quickly.

The Role of Employees

Veteran Incident Commander Jack Armstrong recommends that two or three lower-level employees participate in planning for what 42 the organization is to do with, for, and to its workforce. This can increase employee buy-in and commitment to the process.

Creating an Emergency Operations Center

As part of business continuity planning, consider setting up a place from which to operate your business in case your premises are destroyed. Common names for such a site are Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Disaster Recovery Site (DRS). Whatever you call it, the site should be equipped with backup computers, phones, desks, emergency supplies, and whatever else is necessary to carry on business in the short term, until new quarters can be found. Considerations include:

• Location. A locale some distance from the disaster may be the best choice. But it should be in an area that your employees can reach with reasonable adjustments to their commutes.
• Space. How many square feet will you need? Will the facility be on a different power grid? Will you need backup power?
• Equipment. How many phone lines, computer hookups, and intranet and Internet connections will you need? What about TV sets and radios, especially those that are battery-operated? Do you need two-way radios, walkie-talkies, satellite phones, and/or extra cell phones and pagers?
• Staffing. Who will be assigned to work there? What will their roles be? Make sure the roles and responsibilities of each person assigned to the EOC are crisp and clear. Who will be the Incident Commander, and how much authority will that person have? Who will make what decisions? Who will be on each shift so that there is 24-hour coverage? Who will link with fire, police, public works, state, and federal officials? Who will issue instructions for other employees to follow?
• Reporting in. When do employees report in to this site? How will they get there? If they are working elsewhere, how do they know where to go?

43

How Many Business Continuity Plans Do You Need?

If your organization has just one location, one business continuity plan will probably suffice. However, if you have multiple locations or even occupy several floors in a single high-rise, you may want to consider developing separate plans for each unit, department, or location. You also may need more than one Emergency Operations Center depending on how spread out you are.

For example, a university, hospital, or company campus that has many buildings with different functions may need a unit-level plan, because the entire population may not face a threat of the same urgency as those employees in the building or area where the emergency occurs. For example, if a lone gunman enters a building and opens fire, the immediate impact will be on the employees in the general vicinity. Their lives, safety, and security are the ones initially at stake. Your plan needs to address that.

44

Components of Emergency Response

A major part of any business continuity plan is determining how to respond when an emergency rises. There are at least 10 components to an emergency response. These conform to the OSHA requirements in CFR Part 1910, Subparts 38 and 39, Emergency Action Plans and Fire Prevention Plans:

• Make sure that the EOC management team members know their own responsibilities and duties in the event of an emergency and what staff members are assigned to them. It makes sense to think about management structure in the context of how and where it will be used.
• Think through the role of Incident Commander very carefully. This individual will run the show in any event that requires you to open the EOC. A good choice to fill this role might be the VP of operations, the chief operating officer, or the plant manager. Sufficient operating authority must be delegated to enable this person to make decisions on the run, without having to crawl up the chain of command, which may become broken. The Incident Commander should have a team of people who also are able to make significant decisions.
• Establish duties for crucial employees. This group includes anyone who is required to handle critical operations during and immediately after an evacuation—shutting down equipment, for example.
• Establish procedures for reporting fires and other emergencies.
• Identify contacts. Which outside agencies and internal personnel should be notified in case of an emergency? Who will contact them?
• Identify evacuation schemes to use in emergency situations. Escape procedures should include floor plans and workplace maps showing where refuge areas are located.
• Establish a procedure to account for all employees after an evacuation has been executed, or even after a disaster. Besides the traditional phone tree of home numbers, consider the use of cell phones, especially those with text messaging.
• Install alarm and communications systems.
• 45 Develop and implement requirements and methods for training managers, employees, and emergency response teams.
• Keep records during and after an emergency or disaster.
• Review your plan periodically and update it, if necessary.

Practicing Emergency Response

Being prepared is the first requirement for responding effectively to an emergency. But preparation alone won’t prevent you from becoming fearful or yielding to the impulse to flee when disaster strikes. Fear and flight are instinctual, compelling reactions, even among professionals such as firefighters and police, who have undergone extensive training in crisis response.

To counter this natural impulse, Larry Parsons, Director of Environmental Health and Safety at the University of California at Santa Barbara, insists on drilling for various types of emergencies. He calls on the business continuity team members and others to act out the roles they will play in a crisis. Those who don’t have a specific role practice evacuating the site. Practice can reduce panic because individuals know that they have specific duties to perform or places to go. Build realistic simulations into your plan.

Considering Employees

Any time a disaster strikes, the first priority is the safety of employees. Three critical questions must be answered:

• Where is everyone? Generally, HR activates the telephone tree, and managers of various departments and locations check on the whereabouts of their staff members. Depending on the type of emergency and the time of day it happened, you may need to call employees’ home numbers or cell phones or perhaps send text messages.
• Are employees safe? Are there any injuries or fatalities? If so, you’ll need to activate the injury or fatality response portion of your plan.
• Do employees have the basics? Do they have a roof over their heads? Water? Food? Clothing? Family members or pets with them—or do they at least know where their family members and pets are? If they haven’t had these basic needs 46 addressed, they will have a difficult time concentrating on their work—if they in fact show up to work.

“The reason you’re helping employees with their self-preservation is not empathy or compassion, but a bottom-line business reason,” explains Charles Pizzo. “You need your employees to come back to work to get the business going. If they don’t come back to work, you’re not going to be able to recover.”

In addition to following up on employees, you also have to check in with your senior leaders to assess how they’re coping. Some senior executives may be in a state of panic and unable to function. In such a situation, the HR leader needs to step up as an example and remain as dispassionate as possible.

It is the HR leader’s responsibility to be the voice of reason and calm. Even if the CEO is managing well, you should expect that he or she will look to you as the HR representative for counsel, especially on internal matters concerning employees. You represent a center or safe haven for all employees based on your self-control, the ability to “touch” at arm’s length, and the determination to inspire confidence and take command. You cannot wait to be asked—just do.

Veteran Incident Commander Jack Armstrong says, “Manage your emotional side as you take control of the situation. If you act like you are in control, then you become in control.”

You also will need to activate the contingent HR policies you’ve developed. Because you have prepared them in advance as part of the business continuity planning process, you won’t have to scramble when disaster strikes. You may need to adjust these policies to fit the specific situation you face, but that’s a lot easier than creating them from scratch under stress.

Planning for Timely Business Resumption

Once you have verified that your employees are in a safe zone, the next critical step is to make sure that the business continues to run as smoothly as possible, given the circumstances. Important decisions that must be made—ideally, when you are still in the process of preparing your business continuity plan—include the following:

47

• Decide where the business will be relocated in case your premises must be evacuated for a lengthy period. This may or may not be the same site as the Emergency Operations Center.
• Determine who will make the call to activate the EOC, and specify which operating and support units will relocate there.
• Determine, if necessary, what housing arrangements will be required for transferred staff and how they will be paid for.
• Establish a system for emergency funding, backup check writing, and other banking processes.
• Plan for the activation of backup systems and/or the ability to access outsourced systems. There are enormous issues facing the information technology (IT) leaders in contingent planning, including the locations of hardware and backup software, the availability of contingent resources, the provision of backup copies of systems documentation and operating instructions, details of equipment replacement, and a list of the names of outside resources and specialists. Also allow for a backup telephone system.
• Plan for the backup and transfer of electronic records.
• Analyze paper files and determine which records can be transferred to electronic files. Imagine how, if all files should disappear, the business would run without them. At First Interstate Bank the HR files were damaged by smoke in a major fire. Our options were to clean the documents or toss them. We tossed most of them. In New Orleans and other cities ravaged by the 2005 hurricanes, complete buildings were ruined and all their contents lost. While you may not be in hurricane territory, disasters such as building fires or floods can occur, so plan accordingly.
• Determine which records should be transferred to the recovery site.
• Determine which computer files need to be backed up and arrange in advance for their off-site storage, maintenance, and updating.
• Determine the procedure for verifying where staff members are working. Establish contingent policies to cover disruptions such as the inability to use public transportation and longer commute times.
• 48 Identify ways to notify customers of changes in operations and what it means to them.
• Redirect leadership to the EOC.
• Evaluate control and financial risks for each major business and support function—for example, backup payroll, pension/ 401(k) reporting, and administration for HR.

Ensuring the Success of Your Plan

Although your plan must cover many topics, you should strive to keep the execution portion as simple as possible. Focus on what people need to do, in what order. Keeping the plan as simple as possible will make it easier for the team to carry it out and for employees to understand what to do. Documents and supporting materials such as handouts and wall posters should be written in plain, easy-to-read language. This is not the time for legalese or military-style requirements. Observe the KISS principle—keep it sweet and simple.

Make sure that people in several locations on each floor and in all buildings and locations of the business have assigned roles and know how to carry them out in case of an emergency. The greater the number of people who are involved, the more buy-in and commitment there will be to the plan.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice carrying out the plan, preferably at least twice a year. Keep the sessions interesting and different so that employees are forced to pay attention. Include role playing under various disaster scenarios. Also, participate in any disaster exercises sponsored by local emergency planning agencies. And above all, take the exercises seriously. As mentioned earlier, practice helps reduce fear; when employees at all levels know what they are supposed to do, they are better able to resist the urge to simply flee.

He adds, “Things don’t always go the way you plan, but emergencies and disasters have the same patterns, and the same lessons will apply. That’s why preparation and practice are so important. Keep your eyes open. This is fundamental, and it’s what allows you to make changes on the run.”

Communicating with Employees

As mentioned earlier, your business continuity plan requires a component that addresses how you will communicate with employees before, during, and after a disaster. Major issues to consider include the following.

50

Before a Disaster

Regularly communicate the importance of disaster planning and preparation for the business and for individuals. Share the key components of your business continuity plan, including what actions employees will need to take if disaster strikes. (Basics include how to evacuate the building, whom to call for further instructions, and whom to notify if there is a problem.)

Also, encourage employees to make plans for themselves and their families, independent of what’s happening at work, including getting supplies. Refer them to the excellent resource materials available from the Red Cross and other agencies. You don’t have to re-create materials. You do have to reinforce employees’ knowledge of the actions they need to take at work to reach safety—or, if disaster strikes during off hours, how they are to get in touch with their managers to make sure they’re accounted for. See “Suggested Actions to Take at Home” in the Resources section on page 157.

You also need to get to know representatives of the local media—especially those in radio news—in the cities and towns where you have offices, plants, and other operations. Depending on the severity of the disaster, you may need the help of local radio and TV stations—those that still have their own news departments—to broadcast messages. Ideally, you always want to communicate directly with employees, but that may not be possible. The news media usually will cooperate, especially if you’re a major employer in their market, as they will thereby be providing a public service duty as well as reporting breaking news. For example, they can broadcast a special toll-free number for employees, which you should have set up in advance, as well as a special website, which also should be prepared in advance.

Also, for all the communications team members and those involved with business continuity, set up personal e-mail accounts with such providers as Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google. That way if your organization’s e-mail system goes down but Internet service is still available, you’ll be able to communicate with each other. You also may want to encourage employees to share their personal e-mail addresses with their managers for the telephone tree.

51

During the Disaster

Communicate often in as many ways as you can, considering the tools you have available. The initial messages should focus on the safety of employees and their families in the disaster area, and all the “me” issues, such as:

• Do I come to work?
• Where?
• When?
• What’s happening to my benefits?
• What about filing insurance claims for damage to my home? Can I take time off from work for that?

Be sure to communicate to employees in unaffected areas too. They’ll want to know what’s happening with their co-workers, and what they can do to help. For example, can they prepare and send care packages? Can they give blood? Are cash donations better? Later, they’ll need to know how their job duties may change—for example, if they need to cover for certain people or tasks, or if they’ll be working with more employees if you decide to relocate employees to unaffected areas and offices.

For affected and unaffected employees, there’s a very good chance that you won’t know all the answers to all the questions in advance. However, you can say, “We don’t know. We’re looking into it, and we’ll get back to you,” and then do so. See the Prologue for real-life examples.

Once you address these basic needs, you can start communicating what’s happening with the business, including the plans for recovery.

Also, as soon as it’s safe, have your leaders meet face to face with employees. Group meetings, especially when people can see their co-workers en masse, can be therapeutic experiences. You’re survivors! These meetings are also good opportunities to assess in real time how well your overall business continuity plan is working from the employees’ perspective, as well as the employee communication portion, and what changes you need to make on the fly. Also, employees appreciate seeing their leaders on the front line rather than hiding out in a bunker somewhere.

52

After the Disaster

Once your business is back on track, you need to balance two types of communications: the follow-up messages related to the disaster and the ongoing business messages. To put it another way: You want to be respectful of what has happened, especially if some employees and their families have suffered, but you don’t want to get stuck in the past. If you don’t watch it, you risk encouraging everyone to relive their experiences. The employees and the organization both have to move on.

Keep in mind that you may have some employees who remain traumatized, and it is important not to say “Get on with it” when they are not emotionally ready. Keep the trauma consultants handy just in case. Those affected employees also need to be counseled carefully by the managers so that they can return to productive work as soon as possible, as discussed in the following chapters.

For everyone, however, it can be a healing exercise to document for employees, their families, and the organization what happened. This communication, especially if it’s print or video, can serve as a record of events that pays tribute to a challenging time and that recognizes people for their efforts.

For example, in September 2002 Agilent Technologies issued on its intranet a special series remembering 9/11 and reminding employees about the importance of disaster preparedness. The series featured personal perspectives from three employees who assisted the rescue efforts using Agilent technology, and reviewed the actions Agilent leaders took to ensure the safety of employees. There were also wellness tips for dealing with traumatic events, and a checklist of how to be prepared amidst the potential confusion of an emergency situation.

However, you also have to focus on events happening now and those on the horizon, especially if the competitive landscape has changed. For example, competitors may be providing products and services your customers need but can’t get from your organization at present. Therefore, you need to work with your company leaders to refocus, re-engage, and re-energize employees.

53

10 Common Mistakes

Even though you have put considerable effort into emergency preparedness, things can still go badly when disaster strikes. However, adverse consequences can be minimized if you avoid the following pitfalls:

1. No senior management support. A well-known health care company that was suffering financial reverses decided to cut the budgets for training and emergency preparedness. The company was ill prepared for the problems it then faced as a result of September 11. Although it is common for training to be cut when budgets have to be trimmed severely, CEOs and CFOs should think twice about the cost of not being prepared to serve customers in case of a disaster and weigh that cost against the small amount of savings derived from cutting the costs of maintaining emergency preparedness.
2. Lack of employee buy-in. A typical employee reaction might be “Oh, yeah, another stupid fire drill.” But it’s not stupid; in fact, it is necessary for saving lives. Change the drill and change employees’ roles so that they know what is expected of every emergency 54response team member and what could happen if they aren’t prepared.
3. Insufficient planning. This should not be a problem if you solicit the input of key employees across a broad spectrum of departments and get their help in fleshing out the plan and updating it regularly.
4. Lack of training and practice. Make exercises interesting; run them often enough that employees learn something new each time. Include the training as part of new-employee orientation programs. (Also, certain states require annual safety training. Find out if yours does.)
5. No designated leader. Leadership is key. Make sure that an Incident Commander is appointed and that team leadership roles are well defined. Offer leadership training when necessary. If you’re in a hurricane zone, you may want to consider rotating the Incident Commander role so that you won’t burn out your leaders.
6. Failure to keep the plan up to date. This plan should not be the type that goes in a three-ring binder and is immediately forgotten. Make it part of regular safety training for all employees, and update names, phone numbers, and agency contacts as often as necessary. (Maintenance of the plan could be a good project for a high-potential person.)
7. No method for alerting employees. Everyone should know the key people to call in order to sound an alert and whom or where to call for information. Create a telephone tree in the form of a simple card to carry in a wallet or purse or to keep next to the telephone at home; make it available to be entered in a laptop or PDA. Do not give this detail short shrift! A sample wallet card is provided on page 145 in the Resources section. Or include an emergency telephone number on each employee’s ID card.
8. OSHA regulations not part of the plan. The design we are recommending is based on OSHA regulations. Do not let your eyes glaze over at the thought of reading regulations; the Code of Federal Regulations is not so daunting. Become familiar with it. Read the many booklets provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and OSHA. They are thorough and will prove very helpful in your planning.
9. 55No procedures for shutting down critical equipment. Who turns out the lights? Who turns off the generators, gas lines, or turbine engines? How do they do it and when, and who will give final instructions for this?
10. Employees not told what actions to take in an emergency. Employee communications must be a linchpin of your plan.

Action Steps

1. Do the basic research on federal regulations. Visit the FEMAwebsite and either download their manual or order a hardcopy. Your local Red Cross office may have copies in stock.
2. Organize the strategic core team and the tactical core team, defining roles and responsibilities, with careful selection of who should be on each team.
3. Kick off the planning processes.
4. Spend time determining how to establish an Emergency Operations center (EOC), where it could be located, and how it would be furnished.
5. Be sure to define the roles and responsibilities of each person who is delegated to move to the EOC in case of a disaster.
6. Be sure all people issues are covered in the plan.
7. Practice, practice, practice your scenarios!
8. Ensure that communications staff do communication planning, including developing key messages and key template materials in advance of their need.
9. Make sure your plan avoids the 10 common mistakes that cause business continuity plans to fail.