The Importance of Backup Business Plans

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I discussed just a few months ago that I switched planners this 12 months and I’m using a Hobonichi Techo. Absolutely like it. After I first began using it, I joined some communities to find out how others were using their planners and get some overall ideas of how you can take advantage of it. Fortunately (and unfortunately), I learned about washi tape as a option to each decorate and organize. 

The explanation I’m sharing this story is because some time back, I ordered some washi tape from a small business. The product was lovely, that wasn’t a difficulty. It did take some time to get my order since the owner had a member of the family take sick they usually needed to shut down their company to care for the member of the family. I’m not chastising this person for caring for a member of the family. That’s a priority. Nevertheless, it does highlight a challenge that small businesses face – not having the ability to run the corporate when an emergency happens. 

This will also be a difficulty for larger organizations. A department may need a small team and one person has an emergency. It becomes a challenge for the team to operate at 100%. Oh sure, they could find a way to do it for just a few days nevertheless it’s not a long-term sustainable plan. Employees will get stressed and burned out. Meanwhile, the work keeps piling up. 

That’s why it’s vital to take into consideration backup business plans. And the time to take into consideration them is once you don’t need them. 

Discover the challenges your organization might face. I wrote an article for The UKG Workforce Institute just a few months ago about “Using the PAPA Model to Manage Risk”. This model lets you discover the risks you may face like injuries, accidents, weather disasters, emergencies, etc. and the likelihood that they could occur. 

When you discover the risks, take into consideration how you’d mitigate them. For instance, let’s say a key member of the team gets sick or has a private emergency they should cope with. We wish to be supportive, in order that they’re not available. Is there anyone else within the organization that has been cross trained to handle things? Or is there someone we are able to delegate the work to love a freelancer or contractor? 

Put training programs in place. Cross training might be beneficial when employees have to care for an emergency. But cross training takes time. Also, because people might forget after they don’t do something for an extended time period, it could make some business sense to have individuals who’re crossed trained do the work when someone goes on vacation. Great option to make certain they keep their skills current and the person on vacation doesn’t come back to a pile of labor. 

Learn how you can delegate. Along with cross training, organizations have to be certain that teams can function if the team leader has to step away to care for an emergency. I’ve seen teams – and I’m sure you’ve got too – that should get all the pieces approved by a manager before they will do something. Though they know what to do. 

Nobody desires to cope with an emergency. But sometimes we have now to. It’s very comforting to know once we do have to shift our attention that the organization will run without us. Having a team that knows what to do doesn’t make us dispensable. In reality, it’s quite the other. Training and developing a team who can handle emergencies makes us much more indispensable. 

Start fascinated by your backup business plans early. Put motion steps in place to get them ready.

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