Have you really thought about crisis management? For small to medium enterprises you don’t even need a natural disaster to wreck havoc
– key people being sick or incapacitated can be enough to spin the world out of control. While sole traders know that if they get sick, the term “shift happens” becomes reality. So what can you do to minimise crisis consequences?
The Big Questions:
How many questions can you answer yes to?
1. If you couldn’t get into your office, could you contact your employees?
2. If you couldn’t get into your office could you contact your clients to notify them of a workplace disruption?
3. Do you have a list of key contacts – accountant, lawyer, business banker and insurance broker that is easily accessible?
4. Is there a master copy of all passwords and logins for all your workplace computer and online systems (this includes access to your websites and social media channels)?
5. If the building that you work in loses its structural integrity would your confidential employee and client records still be secure?
6. Does a trusted person have instructions that explain how to do payroll, banking, invoicing, GST and other basic functions should key people in the business be unavailable?
It’s Time To Systematise:
If you have a team, of course you have employment contracts because as an individual you can be liable for a fine of up to $10,000 for each employee without one. Well drafted Job Descriptions are also important. They are basically the “recipe” for how to do the job well. The more you define each Key Results Area (what needs to be done) and Key Performance Indicator is (what good work looks like), the easier it will be for someone to pick up the role in a crisis, or train someone else to do it.
If you work on your own, having a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) kept in a secure location is highly recommended. In the Employ Me Now world, my partner Geoff has a copy of these.
Why are SOPs Useful?
Writing down a list of numbered tasks that need to be performed in your business is a worthwhile investment in time. Even if you haven’t had a crisis, SOP’s will:
1. Ensure that work tasks are performed consistently and promote consistent quality of service or product
2. Protect the health and safety of people carrying out tasks by alerting them to hazards
3. Allow you to easily train new employees and assess their performance against a benchmark
4. Encourage innovation (if it hasn’t been written down, it’s hard to know where you can improve)
5. Serve as an historical record for use if your business systems are ever questioned
Finally, if the brown stuff really does hit the whirly thing in your life and crisis management becomes your reality, see last month’s post about surviving burnout and remember H G Wells famous quote “The crisis of today will become the comedy of tomorrow”.