Nimble continuity planning – Jay Millen
While the world continues to face the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate, academic, and government leaders are examining the long-range questions “what’s next?” and “how do we respond?” If your organization doesn’t yet have a pandemic response and recovery plan in place, it may be a critical time to take what is in place as a cyberattack or natural disaster response and recovery plan and leverage it as a foundation upon which to build a pandemic response and recovery plan. Many of the elements that are essential to returning to normal operations – understanding the degree of impact, inventorying capability to respond and recover, and executing recovery actions – may be present in your existing response and recovery plans. While they may require significant modification in some cases, they can offer a material head start on getting back to business as we progress through the downward curve to zero and potential re-emergence of the virus in 6 to 18 months.
We have taken two generic cyberattack or natural disaster response and recovery plans as a potential template for a pandemic response and recovery plan for accelerating and implementing with minor modifications in time-based order. Initial Evaluation and InventoryAnalyze the initial impact on the business in its current state: • Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps • Catalog facilities and operations directly impacted, e.g., employees diagnosed with COVID-19 by facility and those who have been verified to have had no direct exposure • Facilities and operations that shut down during pandemic • Facilities and operations that remained open during pandemic • Evaluate customer impact • Supply chain impact • Leadership and managerial COVID-19 diagnosis Achieving a Degree of Operational Capability
Recovery planning • Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps • Isolation of team members and facilities directly impacted • COVID-19 deep cleaning plan by facility and operation • Identification and kickoff of response teams at higher level and by facility • Developing a timeline for implementation and potential recurrence in 6 to 18 months • Screening questions for all team members and suppliers serving facilities • Social distancing plan in start-up of facilities and operations • Daily deep cleaning of work stations and supplies required
Ramp-up planning • 1-2-3 shift decisions • Modified work hours in non-production or customer-facing roles • Job sharing to maintain income levels • Supply chain inventory and pressure testing with understanding of delivery times and order placement protocols • Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps to discuss current state and ramp-up Preparedness Planning for Recurrence Steady state operations and potential recurrence (i.e., the question around the potential for another cyberattack or hurricane is not if, but when) • Building the “new normal” plan and recurrence response • Pressure testing and running “drill” for notification, response, mobilization, and containment This is only a starting point to stimulate thinking in this area. Hopefully, it provides a foundational framework to begin planning and execution for the potential next generation of COVID-19.
Read more: https://www.slideshare.net/underthesurface/nimble-continuity-planning-jay-millen Jay Millen, Matt Comyns & Courtney Day https://signitt.com/jay-millen/
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