Crisis event planning for your business

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China has spread to at least 65 countries and has infected more than 89,000 people, with more than 3,000 deaths. Governments have shut borders and imposed quarantines, and companies have imposed travel bans. Reports about the Coronavirus in all media outlets range from factual reporting to hysteria, such as dramatic drops in sales of Corona Beer!

 Regardless of your individual assessment of the risks associated with the virus, it is a good opportunity to review your workplace strategies, polices and procedures to protect employees, customers and operations from the effects of a crisis event. Since we in Wellington live in an earthquake zone and experience other mini-disasters, burst water pipes, daily traffic disruptions and other issues, having robust plans to cope are not misplaced, regardless of the cause.

 A disaster planning review contains these elements:

 1.    Conducting an analysis of your current situation—where you are NOW. There are a number of ways to get a clear understanding of the current situation and environment. Documenting these in a plan will help identify weaknesses and areas for improvement

2.    Identify the key areas that need to be addressed in the event of a disaster—WHERE you want to be. These would focus on disaster planning of low risk, medium severity and high severity as the extent of responsiveness will vary

3.    Create a plan for HOW you will address the situation in each of the three risk severities

4.    Robustly test your plan to ensure it is sufficient

 There are a number of tools available to undertake this review, whether you undertake the review internally or with external assistance and support. Some argue it is a director’s duty to ensure these plans are in place. The process can be challenging, particularly when considering what needs to happen in a worst case scenario, but this planning process allows us to control what we can and turn issues into opportunities and survive challenging times.

 We would be very happy to share the tools (i.e. Mindshop Disaster Scenario Planning) we have and assist externally to examine your business and preparedness. Please contact us.

Contact us today for your no-obligation consultation.