You have written your plan. You have verified that the procedures in your plan are correct. You have trained your staff and team members in what to do. You have continued to maintain your plan.
And now, the disaster happens. What to do, what to do.
There are several lessons to remember at this time:
1. Don’t panic
Panic is the one thing that can cause your well-prepared plan to fail. The difference between a disaster that results in failure and one that results in continuity success is often how well the teams control panic. Well-trained teams can recover from even the most serious incidents provided they remain calm and in control.
There is no one cause of panic. It usually comes from small problems that grow. Teams and the people in them operate in their comfort zone. If things work as planned, the people are in the middle of their zones. However, if things begin to unravel, the greater the chance that the next small problem will cause the team to lose control. When this escalates to the first stages of panic, rational thought is replaced by reflexive reactions that frequently have no positive impact on the situation.
2. Watch out for Murphy
Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Poor planning, inadequate training, and poorly maintained safety and response gear are invitations for Murphy to appear. Deny this opportunity to ruin your recovery by careful advance preparations, by keeping the skills of your teams up to date and by keeping your equipment and plan properly maintained. Failure to do one or all of these things is usually a contributing factor to a failure to recover.
3. Practice
The strategy for smarter, safety and more successful response is to routinely practice the skills necessary for a successful recovery so that if you have to respond to an emergency, they are second nature. It also help to play “what if” games with yourself and your team members. Think about the things that could potential happen and think about and practice ways to counteract or to respond to them. What would you do if you get separated from others in your unit during an evacuation ? What would you do if the building is completely dark during the exit ? What would you do if the emergency responders are delayed in arriving and you are informed that there are still people unaccounted for and maybe still in the building ?
4. Fix the Little Things
If you begin a response to an emergency with a problem, no matter how small, that problem is not going to go away or get better on its own. Minor annoyances can pile up to become a critical problem.
If your response does not begin well, you have to identify the problem and correct it immediately.
5. Listen to the Briefings
Just as you are supposed to listen to the safety briefings before any flight, you should teach your team members to pay attention during the training sessions and when they are briefed on the details of the emergency and the nature of the response.
6. Get the right Safety Gear
You should, as part of your plan development, get the safety and emergency gear needed by your response teams. This includes items such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits, AED defibrillators, protective clothing, gloves, fluorescent bibs, flashlights, water, whistles, stretchers, stair chairs, communication devices (2 way radios, cell phones, etc.), bull horns, etc.
7. Take Responsibility for your own Safety
Teach all of your team members and other staff that they are ultimately responsible for themselves. Teach them that no one else can think for them, plan for them and nobody else can save their live when they fail to be prepared. Show them to take responsibility for their own actions and be prepared to deal with problems that may occur.
Project Initiation and Management
With over over 24 years experience, Binomial has seen a lot when it comes to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning. While the exact situations vary there are always similar threads throughout. As with any project starting out can be the hardest part of the whole recovery planning process. Does this sound familiar “We need to create a plan, but don’t spend any money on it and continue with your regular duties”? Or... “We need to complete a plan because the Auditors are coming next week”. Both of these scenarios are common, thankfully the answer is relatively straightforward.
It is all about small steps. There are many great sayings about how to start your journey, but they always start with the first steps. In this case the first step is simply to get the project initiated. While this might sound simple, it is critical to get going, it is impossible to complete the task if you never begin! The second step is getting a champion on board for the project, while BC and DR used to be primarily an IT issue with current legislation it has become a senior management issue. All of senior management is responsible (and accountable) if there is no plan is place. In addition to legislation, it is becoming increasingly more common for customers to ask for your BC/DR and that of your suppliers. So why not be prepared? If you can’t get senior management to sponsor the project talk to marketing and ask them how they could use this to differentiate you from your competition, you’d be surprised!
Once you’ve found your champion or an angle to get your project some funding, you have to make sure the project is managed to ensure it gets completed. We have seen a significant number of BC/DR efforts that have failed because the project was never managed properly and the project lost steam fading into oblivion until the Auditor is in your office and you are scrambling. There are a couple of ways to keep the momentum of your plan rolling along, BC/DR software gives you a framework and some timeframes to work with. Seminars are an excellent source for information on how to manage your BC/DR project. If you don’t have the luxury of the time required to complete a plan in house (typically a year is reasonable) then you might have look into consultants. While consultants are going to cost more than doing it yourself, you will be able to focus on your regular duties. Now that you have decided on the method you are going to use to complete your plan, clearly define your deadline so you have a goal to work towards and a timeline for the project. This makes everyone associated with the project accountable to ensure that the tasks required are completed.
Now that your plan has a champion, a goal and a timeline it is time to get down to creating a plan! In our next email, we will discuss the Risk Evaluation and Control these are pieces of the initial planning steps and will shape your plan. Getting a grasp on the Risks facing your company is critical to developing a plan that is designed to recover your business from a disaster.
It is all about small steps. There are many great sayings about how to start your journey, but they always start with the first steps. In this case the first step is simply to get the project initiated. While this might sound simple, it is critical to get going, it is impossible to complete the task if you never begin! The second step is getting a champion on board for the project, while BC and DR used to be primarily an IT issue with current legislation it has become a senior management issue. All of senior management is responsible (and accountable) if there is no plan is place. In addition to legislation, it is becoming increasingly more common for customers to ask for your BC/DR and that of your suppliers. So why not be prepared? If you can’t get senior management to sponsor the project talk to marketing and ask them how they could use this to differentiate you from your competition, you’d be surprised!
Once you’ve found your champion or an angle to get your project some funding, you have to make sure the project is managed to ensure it gets completed. We have seen a significant number of BC/DR efforts that have failed because the project was never managed properly and the project lost steam fading into oblivion until the Auditor is in your office and you are scrambling. There are a couple of ways to keep the momentum of your plan rolling along, BC/DR software gives you a framework and some timeframes to work with. Seminars are an excellent source for information on how to manage your BC/DR project. If you don’t have the luxury of the time required to complete a plan in house (typically a year is reasonable) then you might have look into consultants. While consultants are going to cost more than doing it yourself, you will be able to focus on your regular duties. Now that you have decided on the method you are going to use to complete your plan, clearly define your deadline so you have a goal to work towards and a timeline for the project. This makes everyone associated with the project accountable to ensure that the tasks required are completed.
Now that your plan has a champion, a goal and a timeline it is time to get down to creating a plan! In our next email, we will discuss the Risk Evaluation and Control these are pieces of the initial planning steps and will shape your plan. Getting a grasp on the Risks facing your company is critical to developing a plan that is designed to recover your business from a disaster.
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