The Importance of Backup Business Plans
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I mentioned a few months ago that I switched planners this year and I’m using a Hobonichi Techo. Absolutely love it. When I first started using it, I joined some communities to learn how others were using their planners and get some overall ideas of how to make the most of it. Fortunately (and unfortunately), I learned about washi tape as a way to both decorate and organize.
The reason I’m sharing this story is because a while back, I ordered some washi tape from a small business. The product was lovely, that wasn’t an issue. It did take a while to get my order because the owner had a family member take ill and they had to shut down their company to take care of the family member. I’m not chastising this person for taking care of a family member. That’s a priority. However, it does highlight a challenge that small businesses face – not being able to run the company when an emergency happens.
This can also be an issue for larger organizations. A department might have a small team and one person has an emergency. It becomes a challenge for the team to operate at 100%. Oh sure, they might be able to do it for a few days but 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 important to think about backup business plans. And the time to think about them is when you don’t need them.
Identify the challenges your organization might face. I wrote an article for The UKG Workforce Institute a few months ago about “Using the PAPA Model to Manage Risk”. This model allows you to identify the risks you might face like injuries, accidents, weather disasters, emergencies, etc. and the likelihood that they might happen.
Once you identify the risks, think about how you would mitigate them. For example, let’s say a key member of the team gets sick or has a personal emergency they need to deal with. We want to be supportive, so they’re not available. Is there anyone else in the organization that has been cross trained to handle things? Or is there someone we can delegate the work to like a freelancer or contractor?
Put training programs in place. Cross training can be valuable when employees need to take care of an emergency. But cross training takes time. Also, because people might forget when they don’t do something for a long period of time, it could make some business sense to have individuals who are crossed trained do the work when someone goes on vacation. Great way to make sure they keep their skills current and the person on vacation doesn’t come back to a pile of work.
Learn how to delegate. In addition to cross training, organizations need to ensure that teams can function if the team leader has to step away to take care of an emergency. I’ve seen teams – and I’m sure you have too – that have to get everything approved by a manager before they can do something. Even though they know what to do.
No one wants to deal with an emergency. But sometimes we have to. It’s very comforting to know when we do need to shift our attention that the organization will run without us. Having a team that knows what to do does not make us dispensable. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Training and developing a team who can handle emergencies makes us even more indispensable.
Start thinking about your backup business plans early. Put action steps in place to get them ready.
