Could your organisation sustain a prolonged period where normal operations are suspended or disrupted for days, weeks or more? How well do you cope when your smart phone is out of battery and your charger is at home? If you answered NO to either of these, read on…

Just as countries all over the world are putting measures in place to prevent, manage and control the impact of COVID-19, have you considered a plan for when – not if- the pandemic reaches Australia?

Your clients may not tolerate a pause in service if you could not operate for an extended period? It is like the inconvenience felt when our preferred grocery store closes for one day on a public holiday!

Don’t be alarmed but be forewarned, disruption to business continuity can have long term effects on your business.

When products and businesses are successful, clients and customers come to expect you will always be open for business.  If you are yet to consider an alternative to business as usual, consider the following checklist and act NOW:

How will COVID -19 affect my key business functions and processes if…

  • staff need to be isolated for two weeks or more
  • staff cannot travel to the office
  • schools, shopping centres, childcare centres close
  • my business is situated in a COVID-19 hotspot and authorities quarantine the area
  • specialised equipment hardwired at the office are needed to perform business functions
  • critical applications and data are not available
  • the business needs to run offsite and in remote and distributed locations

Call to Action is now

You have less than 2 weeks to develop or tweak your business continuity plan to:

  • anticipate how COVID -19 may impact your business operations – consider people, IT, facilities and equipment
  • establish remote access to core information systems
  • establish capability for running online meetings
  • establish a mirror image of business operation offsite
  • test drive running your business “from home”
  • pay your staff without access to the payroll system
  • redirect landline calls to mobiles
  • communicate with customers
  • direct customers to an alternate business location
  • build in security to protect from physical and cyber threats

For advice and support on making sure your business continuity plan can stand the test of time in all areas of your business, book an hour call with our Partners & download our business continuity plan checklist here.