“Prepare” is an Action Verb – Has Your Business Taken These Basic Actions?
Written by Jerry Shamburg
From the Book of Shamstradamus – Disaster Prognosticator
Sometimes the terms “Are you prepared?” or “Has your business prepared an emergency plan?” are used so frequently that perhaps we take the term for granted. After all we DO have an emergency plan, don’t we? The word prepare is an action verb and the examples used to define it point us to some very useful reminders about developing, testing, and maintaining a proper state of readiness:
(1) To make ready beforehand for some purpose use or activity – Has your organization “made ready” emergency plans and procedures? Are there known potential hazards such as fire, earthquake, severe storms, or other special concerns that potentially expose your business? What has been done to “make ready beforehand” the training and resources necessary? What specific actions have been taken to mitigate the impacts and ensure personnel are prepared and capable to respond? Are employees provided first aid and CPR training as well as training on their expected roles in an emergency? Are leadership teams ready for their roles in the response to a major event?
(2) To work out the details of, to plan in advance: This implies further planning actions and getting down in the details, anticipating and planning our responses. What specific actions may be required? What recovery strategies and timelines are identified? Have the personnel responsible for those actions been empowered and trained in those emergency roles? Do they have the tools and resources they will need to effectively manage the situation?
(3) To put together, to put into written form: No matter how efficient and on target your emergency plan may be, it needs to be written down, shared with the organization, tested, and validated by those responsible for implementation. Most importantly it must be maintained and kept current. It’s not uncommon to see an emergency plan with outdated contacts or invalid resource lists, which will derail the best of plans.
(4) To put in a proper state of mind– As a business owner or leader, how comfortable are you with your level of preparedness? Has your organization taken the actions and devoted the time and resources to truly being prepared? Are there gaps or areas that need further attention or planning? When was the last time emergency exercises were conducted with the key players and teams? Is there an after-action process to capture real-life lessons and identify improvements to the plan?
Of course, all of this is wonderful clinical lecture, but as an illustration let’s throw in a real-life Shamstradamus moment from 1992. I was the Disaster Preparedness Chairman for the Chamber of Commerce, and we were looking for a monthly speaker. Someone gave me the name of a small business owner who had an incredible business continuity story to tell. Los Angeles was recovering from widespread fires and protests, and live television coverage was extensive. Because of nearby fires, the owner decided to send his employees home for safety. That very week he had just begin using a personal computer (yes this was that long ago) to track his inventory, and accounts payable and receivable. Then he made a complete copy of his business records and put the diskette in his pocket (again yes, this was that long ago). When he arrived at home his wife rushed him to the television where aerial coverage showed his warehouse completely in flames. In the time it took him to get home everything at his warehouse had been destroyed. He then related that he had all his business records on that disk and was able to reconstruct his business from home with the help of his employees who provided other resources. Within a few days the business was up and running in a different warehouse. Because he had recognized the need to back up his business and took those actions his business would survive. Granted, in today’s complex environment resiliency and preparedness require much more than something as simple as copying data files to a backup copy. But whether you have a small privately operated business or a larger complex organization, preparing means a wide assortment of actions to be taken. Those actions might include conducting hazard analyses, reviewing emergency policies and procedures, or as simple as updating emergency call rosters.
Prepare is an action verb. What actions are waiting to make your organization more resilient?
Gerald (Jerry) Shamburg is a former Emergency Manager with over 30 years of experience with public and private sector organizations. Jerry is an Advisory Board Member and Resiliency Coach with The Resiliency Initiative. He can be contacted via email at Jerry@theresiliencyinitiative.com.
