For any incident management team/crisis management team addressing major operational disruption, there are some basic things to consider in the immediate aftermath of a major disruption:
- Review your crisis management plan. Is it fit for purpose? Are members of your team trained and resourced to make decisions to keep the business operating?
- Which areas of your organisation have been impacted the most? What can be brought back online quickly and what resources are needed to do so? How many hours are being consumed by team members being diverted from their usual course of business?
- Readdress your company mission statement and vision. Can this still be achieved? Remember you can bend before breaking so it is important to remain flexible.
- Are you monitoring global travel restrictions and how they differ between countries and regions? Do you understand how this can expose you to the new threat of coronavirus?
- Have you got insurance in place to cover you for lost income, cancelled business trips or medical treatment if required?
- Do you have evacuation plans ready to be implemented in the event of local infrastructure failing?
- Can you keep your people safe and secure? Do they have all the tools and resources they need to survive and continue to operate effectively?
- Is your workplace ready to take back employees and have the correct distancing and prevention measures been put in place?
- Have you considered a table-top exercise to run through the likely scenarios pertinent to your operating environment?
Constantly think about protecting your business and the assets you currently have. Its integrity and continued function are core to surviving. Remain diligent with all correspondence, transactions and double-check the detail. You must focus on your business: making mistakes when vulnerable will only compound the situation.