Hurricane Sandy, tornadoes, flood -- all of these disasters affected construction firms during the past year. Some companies took direct hits, while others suffered from massive service demands, and shortages of help and supplies.
Although your business might never face such massive "destruction and distress," other events --everything from IT failure to vandalism -- could trigger a crisis.
Whether it's a catastrophe or a stressful disruption, the best way to prepare for any potential disaster is to develop a catastrophe plan in advance. This plan should allow your staff to mobilize the right resources quickly in the right order so you can get up and running with as many contingencies as possible accounted for in advance.
How do you go about developing a plan? What's the process? Who should you include? How often should you review and update it? An effective plan should involve a "business resumption team" with managers from these areas:
- Information technology
- Communications, both internal and external
- Moves and relocations
- Services and logistics
- Salvage and security
- Customer service
Before a crisis erupts, the team will determine what activities to follow, assign responsibilities for these tasks, and provide the resources and information needed. When compiled and organized, these activities, responsibilities, resources, and information make up the disaster plan.
Don't wait for a crisis to uncover the gaps in your preparations. Get started now on creating and/or updating your plan.
Feel free to give us a call so we can offer our advice and recommendations. Insurance might not solve all your crisis planning problems, but it can provide a solid foundation.