Business Continuity Plan Risks
A business continuity plan is a strategy for enabling a company to operate even if its principals are not in a position to run it. Business continuity plans can be elaborate documents addressing a string of legal contingencies or they can be simple verbal instructions conveying an owner's ideas and intentions. Business continuity plans carry risks because it is virtually impossible to foresee the precise circumstances under which business management might need to change hands.
Other People Are Reading
-
Personnel
-
A business continuity plan should specify the individuals who will take over specific tasks if company principals are unavailable to do so. Yet personnel is at least as likely to shift as management, so an employee who was available to take over a position when the plan was drafted may not be available when it is time to implement it. In addition, no two people fill a job in precisely the same way, even if they are both highly qualified. A successful business continuity plan should take into account the fact that different job responsibilities may be taken over by different individuals.
Finances
-
A business continuity plan runs the risk of not being fully able to plan for financial contingencies. Some businesses change management in orderly, anticipated circumstances, but others are forced to implement a continuity plan because some aspect of the business has unraveled. Business finances are especially likely to cause difficulties that call for a change in management. A successful business continuity plan should allocate a budget specifically dedicated to the process of establishing a new management, paying for such expenses as additional training and support staff.
-
Strategy
-
A business continuity plan should outline a strategy and present a vision of how management changes will occur. For example, a business continuity plan might explicitly state that employees should experience as little disruption in their routines as possible as a result of business continuity changes. An incomplete continuity plan runs the risk of making assumptions about strategies rather than spelling out as many details as possible, causing difficulties in the ways that changes occur.
Customer Relations
-
A business continuity plan carries the risk of failing to address the necessity of customer service continuity. Companies with long-term customer accounts develop ongoing relationships with clients, learning about their special needs and idiosyncratic demands. Attention to these details is at the heart of successful customer service, yet it is difficult to pass down years of information built on one-on-one interactions. A successful business continuity plan should assign specific staff members to take over specific accounts in the case of emergencies and should begin familiarizing these staff members with these accounts before it is strictly necessary.
-
