How can you evaluate the impact of your emergency plan on business continuity?

An emergency plan is a set of actions and procedures that aim to reduce the risks and consequences of a disaster or crisis. However, having a plan is not enough. You also need to evaluate how effective your plan is in ensuring business continuity, which is the ability to maintain or resume your essential functions and services after an emergency. In this article, you will learn how to evaluate the impact of your emergency plan on business continuity using four steps: setting objectives, collecting data, analyzing results, and implementing improvements.

1 Set objectives

The first step in evaluating your emergency plan is to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. You should have clear and realistic objectives that align with your business goals and priorities. For example, you may want to reduce the downtime, costs, or losses caused by an emergency, or improve the satisfaction, safety, or resilience of your customers, employees, or stakeholders. You should also establish indicators and criteria that will help you quantify and compare your performance before, during, and after an emergency. For example, you may use metrics such as recovery time, revenue, customer retention, or employee engagement.

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Jason Chew

Former Operations Manager, Head Of Information Technology & BC Manager(Asia Pac) at KBC Bank
The purpose of an emergency plan should always start on the premise of protecting lives - be it staff or customers or 3rd parties. Next would be to have the appropriate steps to ensure business continuity in an emergency situation - this would look rather different to a typical business continuity plan as the focus is to minimise contagion or manage the escalation of the emergency situation. Most times, it is about doing what is possible in a given situation to contain the damage to the organisation. Prioritization would be key. There should be also an aspect of de-escalation of the emergency which may involve roping in the necessary support services like fire departments, law enforcement etc. Start with risks-rated plausible scenarios.
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2 Collect data

The second step in evaluating your emergency plan is to gather relevant and reliable data that will inform your analysis. You should collect data from various sources and methods, such as surveys, interviews, observations, documents, reports, or simulations. You should also consider different perspectives and feedback from your internal and external stakeholders, such as managers, staff, customers, suppliers, partners, or regulators. You should ensure that your data collection is consistent, timely, and ethical, and that you store and protect your data securely.

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3 Analyze results

The third step in evaluating your emergency plan is to analyze the data you collected and draw conclusions about the impact of your plan on business continuity. You should use appropriate tools and techniques, such as charts, graphs, tables, statistics, or models, to organize and visualize your data. You should also compare your actual performance with your expected performance, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your plan. You should look for patterns, trends, gaps, or anomalies in your data, and explain the causes and effects of your findings.

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4 Implement improvements

The fourth and final step in evaluating your emergency plan is to use the results of your analysis to improve your plan and your business continuity. You should prioritize the most critical and feasible actions that will enhance your plan's effectiveness and efficiency. You should also communicate and coordinate your actions with your stakeholders, and assign roles and responsibilities for their implementation. You should monitor and review your progress and outcomes, and adjust your plan as needed. You should also document and share your lessons learned and best practices with your team and your network.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Jason Chew

Former Operations Manager, Head Of Information Technology & BC Manager(Asia Pac) at KBC Bank
Where I come from, I would have the business draw up 2 sets of business continuity plans - one with regards to activities that happens within 24 hours of activation and another that handles activities that go beyond the first 24 hours. Whilst for some business lines, they may look identical, there are others that would be significantly different for good reasons. I would think in most cases, the latter is true. I would consider that some of the actions that we do in the first 24 hours of an emergency would be pivotal to how the following few days or weeks would pan out for the organisation.
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How can you evaluate the impact of your emergency plan on business continuity?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Set objectives

2 Collect data

3 Analyze results

4 Implement improvements

5 Here’s what else to consider

Emergency Management

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How can you evaluate the impact of your emergency plan on business continuity?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Set objectives

2 Collect data

3 Analyze results

4 Implement improvements

5 Here’s what else to consider

Emergency Management

Rate this article

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