I'm often asked about disaster planning.
The task seems daunting to many business owners. I suggest a step-by-step approach.
A good place to start is with a communications plan. You must be able to contact your employees, suppliers, and clients in the event of a disruption.
The process is pretty straightforward. Survey your employees getting all of their contact information - home phones, cell phones, beepers, pagers, home e-mail, work e-mails, etc. See a sample form here. Feel free to change the form to fit your needs.
Use the completed forms to build a telephone tree and email list. I suggest the lists be put on Google Docs or other on-line storage application. You can access the data when and where you need it.
Also build a list of supplier contact info. A sample form is here.
Both lists need to be updated quarterly.
Test your system by running an unannounced drill over a weekend. Have employees call through the phone tree. Send a blast email to everyone and ask for a reply.
The task seems daunting to many business owners. I suggest a step-by-step approach.
A good place to start is with a communications plan. You must be able to contact your employees, suppliers, and clients in the event of a disruption.
The process is pretty straightforward. Survey your employees getting all of their contact information - home phones, cell phones, beepers, pagers, home e-mail, work e-mails, etc. See a sample form here. Feel free to change the form to fit your needs.
Use the completed forms to build a telephone tree and email list. I suggest the lists be put on Google Docs or other on-line storage application. You can access the data when and where you need it.
Also build a list of supplier contact info. A sample form is here.
Both lists need to be updated quarterly.
Test your system by running an unannounced drill over a weekend. Have employees call through the phone tree. Send a blast email to everyone and ask for a reply.
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