intelligent

Dean Guida , Founder and CEO , Infragistics

A BIG PART OF THE

PREPARATION , IF NOT THE BIGGEST , IS FINANCES . untouched when disaster strikes or the industry changes tides . But , if there ’ s no money to support the business at the end of the day , it will not survive .

To prepare for this , companies should have at least three months of cash in the bank . This means , if a business were to make absolutely no money for three months , this amount should cover those three months of bills . It ’ s an emergency fund for businesses and should be non-negotiable .

Companies should also understand their business from the perspective of a rolling 12-month cash flow to have a full view into where money is coming from and where it ’ s going . The more companies understand this , the better decisions they can make about where to attribute resources in emergency scenarios or amidst changing industry conditions .

Establish a response team

Another critical piece of Business

Continuity is creating a response team . This team should be responsible for preparing for , detecting and addressing disruptions and be in place before disruption happens . This is important not only for the team itself to respond quickly and mitigate any damage , but for other employees to have peers to look to for answers .

Response teams are typically composed of managers and executives who can make onthe-spot decisions . They should cover all areas of the business , like communications , finance , HR , business operations and legal .

Once a response team is in place , the next step is to develop a comprehensive risk assessment by identifying potential disruptions and creating a clear response protocol for each . An effective plan can shorten or lessen the impact of a disaster , protect employees and other stakeholders and safeguard the company ’ s reputation .

While a formal response team is best to respond to quick-hitting disasters , there are also teams that companies can put in place for industry disruption-related decisions . A red team is another type of team that can be made up of employees , customers and other stakeholders . The red team ’ s goal is to punch holes in things like business strategies , go-to-market plans and data security . This is especially helpful when companies are facing industry disruption and need to make decisions to create or expand products and / or services or adapt to new technology . This approach forces companies to think critically about their goals and address potential blind spots .

Businesses should embrace diverse perspectives for these teams by recruiting employees and other stakeholders with a variety of backgrounds , experiences and ideas . This ensures that the company isn ’ t trapped in an echo chamber , but rather has access to a wider range of perspectives to navigate challenges .

Communicate thoughtfully

A company ’ s top priority during a disaster is to communicate with its employees and external stakeholders ( like investors and customers ). But it ’ s not enough to just communicate , it must be done both quickly and thoughtfully .

While communicating with employees and external stakeholders , businesses need to be transparent by addressing the issue at hand , answering questions and providing regular updates throughout the disruption ’ s impact . Consistent communication fosters trust and allows companies to regain control during a turbulent time .

A company facing a data breach , for example , needs to share details about the breach , answering questions like when the breach took place , who was affected and what information was taken . While this is required information , the company can then take additional steps to offer free credit monitoring services for those affected and share what internal changes are taking place to prevent a similar disruption in the future .

Be flexible

At some point , every business will come up against an unplanned emergency or face disruptions like economic downturns and market shifts . And