The Living Plan

So you’ve put together a plan. Really. It’s that binder sitting on the shelf above your credenza. If anybody asks if you have one, you can point at it and say “yes, we have a plan!”

It isn’t doing much for you, is it?

 Does anyone in your organization know what it is for? Or how to use it?

Here is something to ponder as you are building your plan…

… multi – use.

The plan and the planning process can and should have multiple uses in your organization. Don’t just put some information in a binder and stick it in the corner, never to be used again. The continuity plan should be a living document, constantly evolving, changing with the organization. The time involved in planning should never be considered “wasted time” for the business. Instead, planning for continuity should be considered in the forming of any new business process – and likewise – planning for continuity can assist in the fine-tuning of existing business processes.

In other words, business process and continuity planning work hand-in-hand.

How is this?

I have observed organizations making their first continuity plan – as they gather the information about the processes that need to be maintained to keep their business afloat, some realize their processes aren’t well-documented, and others find processes that need revision. In some cases, the continuity planning process helps in the discovery of new ways to save time or money.

One organization discovered that only one person had phone numbers and access to many of their vendor accounts. The numbers were kept in a little black book – and no where else. If the phones went out and that person was away on vacation or incapacitated, no one would have been able to get them fixed. That is known as a single point of failure.

Another organization used information gathered from their plan to design a cross-training program so that every process within their organization had more than one person who knew how it worked.

Here’s the bottom line – yes, the continuity plan should be designed to handle the big stuff – major disasters. But by making it modular, the plan fits even the smallest situation – something as minor as being short-staffed. When the organization has a modular plan, everyone knows what to do when the business has a hiccup – and by doing those small things for hiccups, they are already trained if the “big one” ever happens.

Special thanks to Bill Quesse for reminding me of my own philosophy during a discussion at the IVNUA conference. Bill has a similar philosophy, and has designed a database application that assists in creating a living continuity plan by keeping track of all an organization’s assets.