A contingency plan is developed to prepare a company to face abnormal situations and mitigate the impact of sudden disasters. The plan describes the procedure to be followed in the event of failure of one or more critical systems.
The implementation of a contingency plan depends on the size of the organization and the resources available during the crisis. The plan must be designed, reviewed and accepted by management. The plan must be shared with key members of the organization. Companies should periodically execute the steps outlined in the plan as an exercise, to be prepared when the need arises.
The company must have a contingency team that takes charge of operations and implements the plan for each type of risk identified. Equipment failure due to natural disasters and sabotage can be covered by insurance. Personnel implementing the contingency plan should know the contact details of the individuals or service providers who should be contacted during the emergency situation, for assistance in troubleshooting the problem and getting business operations back on track. normal.
Communication and notification are an important part of implementing a contingency plan. If a major business location is affected by fire or flood, the plan might be to move employees and equipment to another location. To implement this plan of moving operations to a new location, a good communication plan must exist. If the problem arises during working hours, the evacuation procedure should be followed and emergency help lines should be used for assistance. The persons responsible for the implementation of the contingency plan must be able to contact all employees through a previously agreed way (phone / email / SMS) and inform them to report to work at the new location until the old one can be functional. again. External suppliers, distributors and customers should also be notified of the change in location and who to contact to resume operations and contact details.
Contingency planning is important when executing a project. If a key team member is out of action, there must be another team member capable of stepping in to perform important tasks. If the project follows good knowledge sharing practices and has good documentation, it will facilitate the induction of new support staff (developers / testers) for help. It is important to communicate to the client that the absence of the usual person will not affect the project delivery schedule. If the project runs into issues that are likely to affect budget or timing, the person (s) implementing the contingency plan should know what to communicate to the client. The person must also know how and when the information should be sent to convince the customer that steps have been taken to mitigate risks and control the situation. The implementer must follow up and send status updates to keep management and the customer informed during a problem situation.
Early warning systems should be in place to notify / escalate problems to the relevant person (s) in charge. Analysis, evaluation, coordination, prioritization, and preparation are the key elements in implementing a plan. Contingency plans should be updated regularly and the lessons learned from each incident should be incorporated into the plan.