by Joy Dike, PhD

​Consider the following situation: A major hurricane comes through your city and devastates part of the city and you will need to move out of your building for a number of months. Hopefully you have a business impact analysis and a business continuity plan that cover the situation where employees can work remotely and business can continue apace during this time. Great. You’re on the right track.
 
Now consider this: Your lease dictates that you still pay rent on your business space, even when you’re not occupying the space. Even when NO ONE is occupying space in the building. Even when they building is off limits for 6 months. We’ve seen this happen after Hurricane Sandy.
 
Have you examined and reviewed your lease recently? Do your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan say anything about the cost associated with moving office for 6 months? Does it say anything about paying rent during this period?
 
We are not suggesting you need to re-negotiate your lease. What we are suggesting is that you need to include your lease and associated costs in your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan. Don’t’ forget about these things.
 
Continue to follow us as we discuss other unusual situations that you probably haven’t thought about when it comes to your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan.

by Joy Dike, PhD

​After the shock of these events has subsided, the logical question is to ask how you, the individual, can protect yourself. This is a normal reaction to terrorist events.

The truth is that the best thing you can do at your place of business, your child's school, or your place of worship is to have a PLAN IN PLACE in the event that a terrorist incident occurs. Think about what would happen if an armed gunman or a suicide bomber entered your place of work - someone may sound an alarm and everyone would follow the fire escape plan. Good idea? Is it a good idea to have everyone congregate in the lobby or right outside the building, as is usual for fire escape plans? Think about it for just a moment - there's a guy with a bomb whose overriding goal is to cause mass casualty, and your fire escape plan gives him exactly what he wants, huge numbers of people all congregated in one place. Just to be clear - this is a terrible plan. A fire evacuation plan is great for fire but not great for active shooters or bomb threats.

Your place of business needs to have a plan in place for what to do in a situation like this. This is called an Emergency Action Plan, and it goes far above and beyond a simple fire evacuation plan. A proper Emergency Action Plan will have different plans for different scenarios - fire, cataclysmic weather, active shooter, or maybe even an irate parent or client.

Don't wait until it's too late. Think about having a risk assessment done for your place of business. Ask your child's school administration if they've ever done a risk assessment and if they have an Emergency Action Plan (NOT just a fire evacuation plan). Ask the security guards at the front desk of your multi-story office building if there is an Emergency Action Plan for the building. Ask your boss if there is one for your company. Don't be afraid to speak up at your place of business or your child's school and ask about a risk assessment and an Emergency Action Plan. ​

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the Paris Attacks. Sadly we see this play out all too often. The new “norm” is terrorist attacks intent on killing as many as possible. Have a plan. Be aware.
 
As with all situations of this matter, information is fluidly changing as the situation continues to develop.  A full review of the situation will be possible once law enforcement is able to complete clearing the scene, establishing control, and can conduct an investigation.

by Joy Dike, PhD

But what if your employees need to evacuate the building or can’t get to work because of a natural disaster. They leave their laptops there. Their desktop computers are left too. They leave their paper files on their desks. Maybe you’ve even been diligent enough to send your paper files to a records management or document storage company. That’s great. But people have current papers on their desks. Current files on their computers.
 
If you can’t get back in to your building for an extended period of time, even if it’s just a week or two, what is your plan for your data and papers that have been left in the office? Papers and laptops and desktops and phones are all safe and will be there when you’re able to get back in the building, but what do you do for the week or two or more when no one is allowed to access the building?
 
What if you’re out of the building for 6 months? You have to buy your employees new laptops, desktops, phone lines. Maybe your business impact analysis and/or business continuity plan covers these types of costs. It should. And if it does, good for you. But also make sure that you’ve got some plan for how you will deal with people having to set up new computers, retrieve files, emails, client contacts, current contracts, projects, and documents. You get the point. This is the type of situation where, unless you’ve lived through it, you don’t even think to include something like this in a business impact analysis and/or business continuity plan.
 
Continue to follow us to reflect on other issues you’ve probably never considered for your business impact analysis and business continuity plan.

by Joy Dike, PhD

Major remediation needs to be completed in the building, and your company is actually running quite smoothly in remote locations (because you had a solid business continuity plan in place before the disaster). Great!

Four weeks later the building is back in working order and people start to move back in. What is that smell?! Have you ever thought about what happens to foodstuff during a month-long period without electricity? Yup, all those apples on people’s desks are rotten. All those sandwiches in the refrigerator (that hasn’t had power for a month) are now beyond recognition. All those cookies and cakes that people brought in for the holiday season? Homes for ants now.
 
This scenario may seem absurd, but believe us, we have seen this first hand, and it is something you would never think of until you step back in to that office, open your desk drawer, and cringe at the rotten banana that’s been there for 28 days.
 
When you write and review your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan, you need to think about the process for moving back in to your building after an extended period. Over the next few days we’ll look at some other issues that result when you don’t plan ahead for moving back in to your building.
 
Continue to follow us as we talk more about making sure your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan are rock solid. 
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by Joy Dike, PhD

​You might think: How does this scenario fit in with my business continuity plan or my business impact analysis? It might not if the lockdown lasts for an hour or so. But what if your employees can’t get to work that day because transit and streets are closed? You might lose an entire day of business because of this. If your business is small, maybe one lost day isn’t a big deal to you. More likely though, an entire day of lost business will deal a blow to your company.
 
What if the explosion was terrorism related? What if city officials tell you that you can’t move back in to your building for a few days or a few weeks?
 
A scenario involving city lockdown (or even major disruption on public transport) is something you might want to consider for your business impact analysis or business continuity plan.
If employees can’t get to work because the city is on lockdown, it probably doesn’t mean that they can’t work from home. Don’t simply give everyone a free pass because of something beyond your control that doesn’t even directly affect your building or company. If you have contingencies in place in your business continuity plan and your business impact analysis for events like this, you won’t be scrambling trying to keep your business going in a situation like this.
 
Continue to follow us for more scenarios you’ve probably never thought of when writing or reviewing your business continuity plan and your business impact analysis. 

by Joy Dike, PhD

An Emergency Management Plan that includes a contingency for active shooter is a good idea. Actually, it’s a great idea. But what about the time period after an event like an active shooter? What is your plan for media relations? How do you communicate with your employees? Your customers and clients? Hospitals? News stations? Who talks to the dozens of reporters who show up onsite? Who talks to the dozens of people calling looking for their loved ones? What is your plan for employee mental health and wellbeing after a traumatic event? Employees may understandably need some time off work; they may need to talk to mental health professionals; they may need reassurances that they are, in fact, safe while at work.
 
What is your plan? How do you deal with the loss of business that happens in the hours and days after a tragedy like an active shooter? Your Emergency Management Plan should have policies and procedures in place for the time during a potential active shooter, but your business continuity plan should have policies and procedures in place for the hours, days, and even weeks following an active shooter event.
 
Continue to follow us for more scenarios your business continuity plan and business impact analysis probably don’t (but should) include.