Contingency Planning

Contingency Planning follows on from Risk Analysis. This function has other names, such as Business Continuity Planning, Business Recovery Planning, Business Security, Crisis Management etc, but the purpose and principles remain the same. Any company or organisation can experience a disaster or serious event such as theft, fire, loss of a major customer, or even the death of a key member of the team, so they should have plans to keep operating. Weall Management Services contingency planning consultants and interim managers can help clients identify the risks to their businesses and make plans for who should do what, when and how, should things go wrong.

Management has a responsibility to prioritise and prepare plans to recover from events and have contingency plans in place – starting with the highest risk areas first. WMS contingency planning experts will write the plan with the clients’ team, agreeing how to respond when events occur. The plan will also show clients how to reduce the risk and impact, in turn leading to a contingency action plan.

The risk analysis will show the priorities for the contingency plan, leading to milestones and appropriate steps for each contingency. For instance, chain of command and responsibilities in an emergency, who is to call which emergency services – or clean up specialists, what critical business functions will be affected and how the business is to continue trading.

The plan needs to be developed with all functions considered. Everyone, from the top of the organisation down has to understand their role in the plan and their objectives.

Implementing this plan will require investment. The client’s senior management are to approve the plan before implementation starts.

New equipment, systems and or additional stock may be required; specific training and communication will be necessary. Action needs to be taken once the risks have been identified – ideally before an event happens.

Companies without their systems and data are unlikley to survive for long. Not many companies can continue to operate for more than a few days without IT systems, so efficient and reliable back-up is essential.

Maintaining the contingency plan is an on-going process, and should be the responsibility of the senior management team. It should also be reviewed formally at least once a year. The plan is a live document which should be revised whenever the risk analysis, key personnel or the nature of the business change. The plan should also be tested as realistically as possible – and amended as necessary.

For a contingency plan to succeed it must be up to date, realistic and fully understood by everyone involved who must also know their responsibilities.