While the world continues to face the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate, academic, and government leaders are examining the long-range questions “what’s next?” and “how do we respond?”

If your organization doesn’t yet have a pandemic response and recovery plan in place, it may be a critical time to take what is in place as a cyberattack or natural disaster response and recovery plan and leverage it as a foundation upon which to build a pandemic response and recovery plan.

Many of the elements that are essential to returning to normal operations – understanding the degree of impact, inventorying capability to respond and recover, and executing recovery actions – may be present in your existing response and recovery plans.

While they may require significant modification in some cases, they can offer a material head
start on getting back to business as we progress through the downward curve to zero and potential
re-emergence of the virus in 6 to 18 months.

We have taken two generic cyberattack or natural disaster response and recovery plans as a potential template for a pandemic response and recovery plan for accelerating and implementing with minor modifications in time-based order.

Initial Evaluation and InventoryAnalyze the initial impact on the business in its current state:
• Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps
• Catalog facilities and operations directly impacted, e.g., employees
diagnosed with COVID-19 by facility and those who have been verified to
have had no direct exposure
• Facilities and operations that shut down during pandemic
• Facilities and operations that remained open during pandemic
• Evaluate customer impact
• Supply chain impact
• Leadership and managerial COVID-19 diagnosis
Achieving a Degree of Operational Capability

Recovery planning
• Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps
• Isolation of team members and facilities directly impacted
• COVID-19 deep cleaning plan by facility and operation
• Identification and kickoff of response teams at higher level and by facility
• Developing a timeline for implementation and potential recurrence in 6
to 18 months
• Screening questions for all team members and suppliers serving facilities
• Social distancing plan in start-up of facilities and operations
• Daily deep cleaning of work stations and supplies required

Ramp-up planning
• 1-2-3 shift decisions
• Modified work hours in non-production or customer-facing roles
• Job sharing to maintain income levels
• Supply chain inventory and pressure testing with understanding of
delivery times and order placement protocols
• Team meetings (virtual or in person) using video conferencing apps to
discuss current state and ramp-up

Preparedness Planning for Recurrence

Steady state operations and potential recurrence (i.e., the question around
the potential for another cyberattack or hurricane is not if, but when)
• Building the “new normal” plan and recurrence response
• Pressure testing and running “drill” for notification, response,
mobilization, and containment
This is only a starting point to stimulate thinking in this area. Hopefully, it provides
a foundational framework to begin planning and execution for the potential next
generation of COVID-19.

Read more: https://www.slideshare.net/underthesurface/nimble-continuity-planning-jay-millen

Jay Millen, Matt Comyns & Courtney Day

https://signitt.com/jay-millen/


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