Here’s the dictionary definition of the two:

1. Leader – A person who guides and      inspires others.
2. Manager – A person who directs, controls      and manipulates the resources of an organization, division or department.

As you can see, one can be the other but rarely are they found to be both; especially during a disaster or crisis.  A good manager – an inspiring manager – can step up to be a leader during a crisis and a leader during normal’ Business as Usual’ timeframes can sometimes fall flat and just be a manager; forgetting how to lead under pressure and stress.

A good or great leader during a disaster or crisis is not determined by their title, though many believe it is automatic.  Not true.  Leadership qualities can suddenly appear from the most timid of people; it all depends on how they respond to the situation.  Just because someone has the title of Vice-President, it doesn’t mean they are calm under pressure (i.e. disasters) of that they have the following and support of their employees – and direct reporting managers.

What makes a great leader during a crisis, even if they aren’t normally a leader, a manager or sometimes just being a regular employee?

It really depends upon how they respond, work and communicate under pressure.  If they remain calm and focus on the key/core items related to the situation at hand, they will instil confidence; have poise and optimism in themselves, their staff, the community, the media and the general public.  If they seem indecisive and calm under pressure to all that observe them, even if in private they might be a bundle of nerves.

These somehow can operate under stressful and strained circumstances and people pay attention to their direction; they follow the leader.  Managers that believe they are leaders without inspiring their employees and those around them, aren’t leaders, they are just managers of their resources.

In a disaster, a leader must be a quick thinker, able to distinguish the big picture and the overall objective from the detailed – sometimes personal – perspectives people have on a situation.  It’s all about how they respond and react and then project the right response out to others.

Another great aspect of a leader during a crisis is that they listen; they pay attention to the words of others.  Let’s face it, all great leaders – corporate and political – have people who offer advice and guidance on various subjects.  When a disaster occurs, the leader must still be able to listen and take advice from these individuals and at the same time, make sure that his or her advisors are focusing on the right subject matter to bring the situation to a healthy response and quick resolution.  They’ll remove the roadblocks for individuals as they work through their own responsibilities to enable them to perform the functions required from them.  This is something a great leader does during normal business operations as well, not just during a disaster.

A great crisis leader also passes along their lessons learned from previous crises and delivers it to others in a way that will help others grow and individuals and possibly become leaders themselves.

Yes, everyone is different and it is these differences that will separate the leaders from the managers from the followers.  The followers will change course if the leader isn’t strong and instils confidence but then again, a strong leader will change course when the existing strategy isn’t working; they aren’t afraid to keep moving and address the situation at hand as it develops and meanders its way to resolution.

These are the kind of people you want to have on your Crisis Management teams; those that make the ‘big’ decisions and provide direction to the organization.  You want the organization to follow them; so choose the best leaders for the job, whether they are a lower, middle or senior management representative or not.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and “Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

The thought was to bring together team members that aren’t part of the disaster team structure (i.e. those performing restoration and recovery efforts or those leading these teams) and were individuals that were sent home to wait for instructions.  Often, we know we are to communicate the status’ of situation to employees, stakeholders, Crisis Management Team/DR Team members, partners, suppliers, customers and clients and the thing all of these have in common is that a team is made up of people; people, not a product, service or some sort of commodity.  Therefore, we need to treat people as exactly that; people.

During a disaster, only a pre-selected (and hopefully trained) individuals are required to help restore, recovery and validate systems.  Only a select few are given tasks that relate to the disaster/crisis response; the rest may be sent home for further instruction.  This is where some additional issues can slowly creep into the fray.

It is one thing to send people home and ask them to check a phone line for updates; it’s another to actually communicate status’ and expectations with them.  For many employees, the expectation is to go home – when requested to leave for home – and monitor a phone line, website or email, for communications from the corporation (assuming of course the corporation has a communication strategy) but this only last for so long.

The website, email and/or phone messages must be consistent and provide enough information so that employees accessing the line understand what is actually occurring and how things are progressing.  Understandably, details may not be provided but a high-level overview of where things are can help people feel a part of the restoration and recovery efforts when they actually aren’t apart of those teams at all.

In addition, if after a couple of days the only communication is through the email, website or phone line, employees can begin to feel alienated and forgotten.  Not forgotten in the sense that they aren’t going to be needed as some point but forgotten because all they are getting is a phone message, which they probably have to dial into at certain specific designated time to get an update that doesn’t address any of their concerns or questions.

Many of today’s larger corporation have external parties that offer employee assistance (Employee Assistance Programs – EAP) but even here, they can only offer support and provide so much information.  If the EAP is the sole source of information, the employee once again can feel alienated and left to fend for themselves.  Corporations give the perception that they are shuffling off their staff to EAP and then turn around and focus on the restoration and recovery efforts.  That isn’t to say that corporation can’t use EAP’s to help but they can’t just shuffle the responsibility off to an EAP and expect employees to feel like they are being communicated with by the corporation.

It idea the author of the Continuity Magazine provided an interesting idea; create touch points/sessions that can bring together some of the employees sent home, so they can meet each other and bring forward their concerns and issues.  Sure, executives and DR teams are focusing on getting things back up and running but there is still a segment of employees that need to have some focus as well.

An idea could be to have one of the EAP representatives and/or a representative from the corporations Human Resources office organize an information session for those that have been sent home.  Ask them to attend a meeting at a hotel where they can come together and discuss the disaster and be reunited with their colleagues (of all levels).  If they can’t attend in person, provide a conference bridge or web access so they can follow along.  This will at least let employees know they are being looked thought of during a disaster (and being provided a platform to communicate concerns and receive information).   BTW, some of this might even be performed using notification software/applications but beware; it will take some time set up ahead of time and many individuals might not want to provide you with their contact information.  Still, this will at least give you a tool that’s easier to use (hopefully) to reach more people.

Corporations want a sense of community; a sense where everyone wants the corporation and all its employees to be successful.  But when a disaster occurs the focus goes to a select few and the rest can feel like they’ve been pushed aside only to be brought back when the corporation says they are needed again.  It can cause resentment amongst staff because they can’t share their stories and experiences with colleagues and aren’t being communicated with by the corporation; just a voicemail providing little information and continually asking to call back.  That isn’t communication.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and “Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

http://apocalypsewave.blogspot.com/2012/01/next-to-last-post.html

Regards,

Alex (and the StoneRoad gang)

1) Alex Fullick releases his 3rd book in early 2012 (Made Again – Volume 2: Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs).

2) Alex Fullick releases his 4th book in the fall of 2012 (tentatively titled “Essence: The Truths of Disaster Planning All Leaders Must Understand.”)

3) Creating and releasing the 1st book under a NEW StoneRoad company, ‘Madaemen (a Division of StoneRoad).’

4) Releasing and selling DR/BCM/ERM templates guides on the www.stone-road.com website, along with user guides on how they can be utilized.

5) Running a contest with a local Chamber of Commerce to win a free audit engagement (conditions apply).

6) Near the end of 2012, we plan in beginning to take our revolutionary BCM training course on the road.  It’ll be a training like no other.  (More on that in a few months time.)

7) Since our logo has received lots of feedback, we’re going to release a small selection of merchandise later in the year.  For some reason, everyone like our dragon!!   Sorry, can’t have him – he’s ours.

8) Begin development on iPhone application that will help corporations during disasters; again, more on that later in the year.

9) Continue working with The International Emergency Manager’s Society (TIEMS) and will be in Mumbia, India in September 2012.

10) Off hand I can’t remember the dates for publishing but StoneRoad will be contributing a few writing pieces to an encyclopedia on Crisis Management being coordinated by individuals in California, USA (Berkely University springs to mind).  Sorry, just getting back to a ‘work’ frame of mind so a bit fuzzy on the details at the moment.

That’s if to for now…I’m sure there’s more we’ll be doing as time goes by.

Our hope for you is that each and everyone of you finds success in 2012 and your reach your goals or at the very least, been able to take steps towards reaching them.  Here’s to a new year and the wide open road of success; it’s yours to travel!!

Cheers,

Alex & everyone at StoneRoad.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and “Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

We hope that you were able to work towards your goals in 2011 and that 2012 helps you reach even greater heights.

We’ll be posting a new article early in the New Year but for now, the office is empty and everyone is with family; as it should be.

Wishing the best to you and yours,

All the staff at StoneRoad.

There was another quote later in the article that also captured my attention; “Employees want to know, ‘What do you expect of me?’”  I don’t disagree with this one bit though I couldn’t help think that it’s only half of the equation.  It is certainly a good idea to let employees understand what they are required to do – and not do – during times of crisis or disaster.  The more then know, the better prepared they’ll be.  I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.

However, I think that not only do we need to involve employees by letting them know what you (the corporation) expects of them, the corporation should involved their employees by performing the reverse; find out what employees are expecting from the corporation.  We can tout the virtues of our plans and processes and provide all sort of information to employees.  Using various awareness and training methods we can let the know what is expected of them; when to do something, when not to do something, why they are doing it and what it is they are to do.  What if they are expecting something different than what you’ve developed.  Meaning, what if they ain’t buyin’ what you’re sellin’?

Involvement has to be a two way street; like communication, it must be dialogue and not monologue.  We can’t just tell people what they are to do, we have to listen to them and understand their expectations and concerns.  If they don’t understand their role and don’t get to communicate their concerns, there is a possibility that when your plans and procedures are implemented, the people you want to follow them, don’t (or won’t).

When thinking about getting employees involved, ask yourself – and your employees – these questions:

1. Are the instructions clearly understandable?
2. What are your concerns with the strategies?  / What are your concerns if a disaster occurs?
3. What do you expect (from the organization) when a disaster occurs?
4. What can/might improve these procedures?
5. Does the communication strategy meet your need?
6. How can we improve our intended strategy?
7. What do you think is missing from these plans/processes/strategies?
8. If you had to be the one to implement these strategies, could you follow them?

This doesn’t mean that you tailor multiple strategies to the individual though you could if that is your intent.  What it does do though, is help identify gaps in your strategies that may have been assumptions or simply overlooked and not even noticed by planners.  The answers will give you perspective on not only what the expectations of the company executives are (they should know the plans and procedures you’re communicating) but also understand what the perceptions and expectations are of the general employee base.

Lets’ use a simple example to explain what I mean.  You tell me you’ve planned a trip for me and then you tell me all the things I’ll be doing.  However, when you present it to me I point out that you’ve forgotten to take into consideration by pet, my aversion to flying, my need to stay on the ground floor of a hotel because I’m scared of heights and other such details that may not have been considered – or known – when planning was under way.  You (the corporation) have a plan in place for me and expect me to follow it but I (the employee) must be able to point out my concerns/issues so that your plans can be tailored to the satisfaction of both parties.  Only when both parties understand and contribute will the plans and processes work – and I get the trip that meets my needs.  J

So when communicating your plans and processes, take time to listen to the feedback you get; it could enhance you processes and plans and ensure that everyone expectations are met and that expected outcomes occur as desired.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and “Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

14. Common Terminology – Blah, blah blah; yak, yak,  yak.  That’s all people will hear if you’re speaking to them in ‘tech-speak’ or using industry terminology and acronyms they aren’t familiar with.   How often have you sat in a meeting where you miss what’s being said because of the various terms being used.   Sure, you may know what they mean but don’t assume other do to.  You’ve got to make sure you speak in terms your audience understand and use words they are familiar with.  If you start off with stating BIAs will give us our RTOs and RPOs and not one  knows what those mean, I can assure you that when you’ve developed the RTOs and RPOs, no one will agree with you because they didn’t have an understanding of what you were asking when you went through the BIA      process.  Speak in common terms or terms your corporation is familiar with, not ones you’re familiar  with.

15. Develop for the User – When the crap hits the fan,  there are people responsible and accountable to make things happen.  They can make this happen if they understand what they need to do but that won’t happen if you’ve developed the plan for audit and governance people (among others) and not for those that will actually be using the plans and processes you’ve developed.  In project management, if you want to be successful, you’ve got to make sure the end user is happy with what is being delivered.  After all, they are the ones who’ll be using it and if they don’t ‘get it’ what you’ve created won’t be a success.  I’m a firm believer that an action plan should start telling you what to do in a matter of a couple of pages; not 30 pages of the strategy used to develop the plan.  That’s fluff material and can go into some other document with other fluff stuff. The actual plans must be quick and easy to follow and be understood by those that will be required to follow it.  If they can’t follow it, it won’ t mean anything.    All the hard work put into creating it go to naught because those that need it, can’t follow it or understand it.  So remember, you’re delivering something to a user (group, division or individual), that can be understood, not delivering a huge binder that’ll end up being used to stop a table from wobbling.

16. K.I.S.S. – No, this isn’t Gene Simmons spitting blood and breathing fire and singing ‘Shout it Out Loud’ (which      is a cool song and reminds me of being 10 again), this is Keep It Seriously Simple (aka Keep It Simple Stupid but in the age of PC, I thought I shouldn’t say that…oh, wait…).    This means that you can’t over complicate things when speaking to others you need information from.    You have to learn how to communicate in a way that they can understand and be able to provide you the information you need and assist with any actions you need.  If      you’re speaking to someone from Human Resources (HR), you can’t speak to them the same way you’ll speak to someone in Technology (IT).  IT and HR speak different languages and you must be able to communicate so the audience understand you.  This also means making things logical for them and not trying to teach them everything you know.  You have your specialities and areas of expertise and so do they; you have to find a way to translate your detailed scientific DR/BCM/ERM details into something that is logical for them to understand.  So remember to keep it simple…

17. Develop the Handoff Strategy – Not every person who manages the development of the BCM/DR/ERM program is the one that will stay as the lead of the program.  Often, someone else is to take over and run it on a long term basis; they become the owner or manager of the program.  If this is the case, all Project Managers must ensure that there is a proper hand-off strategy or Operational Hand-off from the project closure to Business as Usual (BAU).  It would be chaos if the project ended and an individual was then approached and told, ‘this is yours’ and that’s that.  They’ve got to know where things are and what was done and know what they are responsible for and what documentation/deliverables, they’ll be receiving.  So ensure this process has been      developed and the strategy is developed so that the hand off becomes as seamless as possible with the minimum amount of confusion and disruption.  The smoother the transition and communication around it, the better chance the program has of continuing.

18. Manage to Scope – Like any project; beware of ‘scope creep,’  If you’re only doing a BIA for data centres, don’t get suckered into doing the BIA for regional offices.  Or if you’re only to develop an alternate site for a single site, don’t end up doing it for others.  It costs more for one and the original scope items will take longer to complete.  It’s easy to let scope get out of hand.  Small requests suddenly  become large items that you’ve committed to and then you find yourself with no budget for it or resources/people to help accomplish it.  There’s nothing wrong with capturing the extras people want to have done but you’ve got to record it (see the point about change management) and you’ve got to get approval to get it added.  If scope changes then the time and money associated with it has to change as well.  If they don’t and you still have to deliver the old scope and the new scope, you’ll find that quality may go down because the stress of budget concerns and resource/time concerns come into play.  Some might know these as the ‘triple constraint;’ budget, time (or schedule) and scope.  So make sure you manage scope; you can always have a Phase II later one that addresses any new scope items identified.

19. Celebrate Success & Learn From Mistakes – This is one of the most forgotten things in any project.  Celebrate what you’ve done.  Celebrate when you reach a milestone or accomplish a major deliverable.  Recognize the team members involved.  If people feel appreciated and part of a team, they’re more willing to ensure success for the project.  This doesn’t have to be fancy awards or monetary gifts but small celebrations like going out for lunch or a simple ‘thank you’ can mean so much to team members.  Remember, if the project succeeds it the team success, if the project fails, is the Project Managers fault.  So celebrate and keep morale and spirits enthusiastic and high.

There are many other things to consider when developing a BCM/DR/ERM program but these items deal with the project management side of things and are intended to help you as you develop your program(s).

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and “Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

8 – Proper Representation – This doesn’t mean to make sure you represent them (though you are in some ways), it’s to make sure that every department and division has a representative that you can approach.  It’s important that every area that is in scope for you has a single point of contact that you can discuss processes and plan development with.   This ensures that what is being discussed and developed for each area, is in fact a true representation of what they require.  If there is no representation, how can  you know their requirements and needs?   You can’t.  Sure, you may know some if it but you won’t know the nuances of their processes and their dependencies.  By the way, this includes not just a subject matter expert (SME) but a management     representative as well (hopefully a director or VP; someone that is close to the Senior Executive team).  This ensures that if key decisions are required in a division/department, then you’ve got the right people involved to help you get the answers you need.

9 – Leverage Existing Materials – Since the wheel has been invented, there’s no point in trying to re-invent it; the wheel is the      wheel.  The same is true for documented plans and procedures.  If you already have something that states how to  store / build/ configure the Mainframe, why get an IT person to write a document for Technology Recovery Plans (TRP)?  Leverage the items you already have.  You can reference them in other materials and always keep a copy with your disaster plans but don’t start from scratch.   True, you might have to add a couple of bits that reference TRP or amend a few pieces so hat they reference what to do in recovery/restoration situations but at least that’s easier than starting from the beginning.  If you have existing documentation and procedures that are required in a disaster, leverage them; it’ll make things much easier for you.  A good example is one I’ve encountered in the last couple of years.  With the avian flu taking the headlines a couple of times, HR personnel wanted to develop contingency plans for departments in case people weren’t available.  However, we’d already done that in the BCM program and it took some time to get the HR people to understand that the avian flu was another trigger for the existing plans we had in place; they had to concentrate on HR policies (time off, payroll etc).  Why we’d start over from the start was beyond me; we just leveraged what we had and enhanced them to add specific details related to the flu pandemic.

10 – Document Issues & Risks – Like any good project, you must capture the risks and issues associated with your initiative.  At first you identify your risks, just like you do in a Risk Analysis (RA).   Then, if the risk occurs, you raise an issue.  Ideally, you should identify all your risks prior to having issues.  If you did, then you’re better prepared for the issues when they happen and      you’re not ‘blind sided’ by them.   Rarely should issues appear out of nowhere.  With each risk and issue, capture who owns it and the estimated date of resolution/mitigation with period checkpoint (aka reviews) so that they can either be closed or the right      mitigation strategies be put in place.   Also identify what the risk/issue is impacting or could impact, so that you can watch for signs that the risk might be realized.  If the same items keep cropping up, you know you’re previous resolutions didn’t work or that there is a bigger problem than you know.

11 – Plan a Logical Approach – Trying to jump right into the final deliverable isn’t do-able.   You can’t develop a proper restoration and recovery process if you don’t have all the right details to support it nor understand why you have to develop a specific strategy.  You’ve  got to start with the foundations; you can’t build a house without a foundation so you can’t build an effective contingency strategy.  That means, starting with a Risk Analysis (RA) and a Business Impact Analysis (BA), or some hybrid of the   two that helps identify your processes and ultimate Recovery Time Objectives (RTO).  (Note: Obviously a BIA and RA provide more than that but you get the idea.)  Using the house analogy again; too many people focus on the colour of the walls but they don’t have any idea where the walls are going yet and don’t know how many bedrooms the house is supposed to be.  So make sure your approach is logical and you follow a step by step plant to get to your deliverable; an effective restoration and recovery strategy that meets the need of the organization.  Remember, Peter Drucker once said, “Efficiency is doing things right,  effectiveness is doing the right things.”

12 – Communicate Often – It may seem obvious but communication isn’t always something that is done right.  You’ve got to communicate often and use multiple channels and to multiple groups.    One memo doesn’t cover it; not everyone requires the same level of information and not everyone translates your words the same way. Each group of individuals must understand what the status is and what is happening in the project.  If you’re communications are sparse and ‘wishy-washy’ then you’ll create problems for yourself because it only invites people to ask more questions.  Not only that but they’ll approach other for information, which might not know the details you know.  They’ll do this because they see you aren’t communicating often enough with the right information and thus, they’ll seek it elsewhere.  So communicate often and ensure that the content is effective, succinct and detailed enough that everyone gets the same message but not too detailed that people begin to ignore your communications.

13 – Seek Expertise – Despite our best efforts, no one know everything.  No one can know the entire organization and that means, no one can know what is required for the DR/BCM/ERM project/program.  You might have areas of expertise and have some knowledge on subjects but there may be gaps. There may be struggles with how to even structure your program creation and if that’s the case, seek out assistance from 3^rd party vendors and/or consultants.  Ensure though that they are providing the service you need, not the service they want to sell you.  Still, outside experts can help move things along better than if the project was managed internally.  If you need the help and are missing a key skill set to get your restoration and recovery strategies in place, then by all means, bring someone in to help you with that or you may not end up with what you expect and it may not get done      when you need it done.

Thus end Part II.

Part III – and the final part – will be next week.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and

“Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com

There are many reasons for this and one of the key items is that not everyone has project management experience.  Let’s get something clear here; working on Business as Usual (BAU) initiatives where you are the only person working on something is NOT working on a project.  Sure, that may be the word being touted but it’s not a project in the formal sense of the description.  You are just getting a task completed that was assigned to you by your manager (or someone else); that is not project management.

Unfortunately, this is also the case with many people that take over the creation and management of the DR/BCM/ERM project.  They may have some level of knowledge of what is required but there is a lack in management aspect of the overall initiative.

I’ve often been asked as to what kinds of things should be considered when managing a DR/BCM/ERM project.  In fact, as I am currently doing just that with my client so I thought I’d capture some of the items that challenge many of the individuals on the project teams.   Of course, this is not a comprehensive list, as Project Management methodologies are much more extensive that this one article (even in two parts) could ever capture.  However, the items that follow are ones that will help you manage the project and assist with delivering what you need; to your satisfaction and most importantly, to the satisfaction of the project sponsor (the one who is paying for it).

1. Decision Log – Ensure you capture all decision made along the way; from the very beginning of the project to the      end.   Make sure you capture what the decision is, why it was made, who made it and what were the  circumstances under which it was made.   This may include assumptions that were made because we all know that assumptions can change, both for the negative and the positive.  If something is questioned in the future or a dependant decision is required (or revisited), you’ll be able to know under what circumstances the original decision was made and adjust accordingly.  A big benefit here is if someone (maybe the sponsor or audit) ask you a question of why something was performed/executed in the manner it was and you’ll be able to physically show them the decision made and its related details.
2. Actions Items – Creating a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) isn’t just an action item; sometimes there are other  actions required before you actually get your first workshop/survey completed.  Sometimes people you’re working with need to accomplish specific tasks themselves and if you don’t record them (with a due date and specific details) action items easily get forgotten and pushed to the side.  When something is documented, people know they are being held responsible for the item; if it’s verbal, it can be forgotten and in really bad situations where something critical is forgotten, it can be denied it was even discussed (With years of Project Management experience under my belt, it happens more often than you might want to admit).  So make sure all items are captured and don’t forget to document when the action item is closed and what the resolution is if the action item was to obtain a specific detail.  Oh, and it may seem obvious but put a delivery date to each action item and review them at least once a week  with your team; more if you’re pushed for time.
3. Minutes for Status Meetings – For each meeting you have, document minutes.  For little meetings that last a few minutes, you don’t really need to go through the detail of documenting everything but you must capture any decision and action items.  The minutes don’t have to be word for word what someone said or the details around a specific topic but you’ve got to record what was happening in the meeting on a high level.  If you don’t, how will anyone know what’s going on in the project?  How can you capture the status of the project?  How do you know when you need to escalate something and help communicate what the problem/issue/concern is?  Minutes are also used as communication devices for those outside the core project team, so they can see the progress and the status and know when/how to help (if required).  In the minutes,      you can also captured the action items and decisions.  Sometimes its just easier to manage a single document rather than multiple but that comes down to personal preference so that’s up to you.
4. Status Reports – At least once a week, you know you’re going to have to report to someone.   This might be from a presentation for 10 minutes to senior management or a documented status report with such things as; are you running on time; are you behind schedule; your risks and issues; what you’ve completed since the last report and what’s coming up next (also known as you’re next milestone).  Status reports are usually provided to upper management, which might include your senior sponsor representative, so make sure you’re honest and open in it.  Also, if you are capturing some of the      items noted in the points prior, the items shown in the status report won’t ‘blind-side’ an executive because you’ve been communicating items early.  Status reports also help you manage yourself to know where you are and where you’re going (along with the project plan if you’ve created one).
5. Include Sponsor/Executives – In any project – not just DR/BCM/ERM – you’ve got to include your executives.  They are the individuals that are paying for you project after all (as one of them is sure to be your sponsor) so they must be part of what is happening.   Capture their thoughts and expectations so that you can address them; either to make them happen or to explain why something can’t be performed the way they want.  Executives are more willing to help and provide guidance if they are involved; if they aren’t involved then they aren’t as easily swayed to make the decisions you want.  They need to be apart of the project, not on the outskirts of it.  If a disaster occurs, it’s them that have the overall responsibility of the organization (even when there isn’t a disaster) so they’ve got to know what is happening in the project and most importantly, they must understand their role in the DR/BCM/ERM program.
6. Financial Reporting – Have you ever been a part of a project that didn’t track financial information?  If you have, I’d bet you weren’t on a project at all.  Every project has some sort of a budget and financial tracking in place.  You may be tracking the costs of the core project team members and the time they spend on the project (sometimes referred to as resource tracking/costs) and you may be tracking costs associated with vendors that are involved with the project.  This can be from external consultants and experts to costs associated with acquiring technology resources (i.e. servers, cables, switches etc).   Oh, and don’t forget these costs may also include those related to new facilities or the acquisition of a 3^rd party DR vendor site and setup.  With today’s financial concerns hitting the headlines every day, you must track the costs associated with the BCM/DR/ERM project and program.  The costs will also assist senior management with decision they need to make because ultimately, they are responsible for signing the cheques (so to speak) and if costs out weight the benefits, they may send you back to the drawing board to create new recovery/restoration alternatives.  This is based in part with financial tracking, so ensure you track and monitor on a regular basis.  If you’re lucky, you’ll have a financial expert assigned to your project to do all of it for you, as each Project Manager has varying levels of experience with financial tracking and in this way, all financials are managed at a single point.
7. Change Management – If you are working at building a plan and a decision is made that impacts the projects scope,  timelines or resources (people, places, things, finances), you need to manage the change through change management.        This helps ensure that if any one of these items is changed, proper evaluation is made as to the impact upon the other two.  If not, you could find yourself with a larger scope but no additional time to accomplish the tasks.  Of you the time has shortened and you now has less time to get the same amount of work accomplished.  None of us have ever experienced that have we?    Using project change management helps identify the impacts of the change and what those impacts will have on the project.  If you don’t use change management you could end up with delivering something that doesn’t      represent the corporations need.  To slightly turn a phrase, “A camel is a horse built with no project management.”
8. Proper Representation – This doesn’t mean to make sure you represent them (though you are in some ways), it’s to make sure that every department and division has a representative that you can approach.  It’s important that every area that is    in scope for you has a single point of contact that you can discuss processes and plan development with.  This ensures that what is being discussed and developed for each area, is in fact a true representation of what they require.  If there is no representation, how can you know their requirements and needs?    You can’t.  Sure, you may know some if it but you won’t know the nuances of their processes and their dependencies.  By the way, this includes not just a subject matter expert (SME) but a management representative as well (hopefully a director or VP; someone that is close to the Senior Executive team).  This ensures that if key decisions are required in a division/department, then you’ve got the right people involved to help you get the answers you need.

Thus ends Part I.

As damaging and severe and the disaster was – and the terrible loss of life – we, as a society, can learn from these disasters so that we can prepare and respond appropriately when (not if) a similar situation occurs again.  That is just one piece of it.  Post-disaster situations also provide us with lessons learned and things to think about.  Sometimes they cause other situations to occur that are well beyond the normal disaster itself.  This particular situation certainly has provided the world with other things to think about and I’ve listed a few of them.

1 – Political Fallout – This disaster proved that no one is immune from the impacts – immediate or long term.  Due to the lack of preparedness and leadership, the Japanese Prime Minister resigned due to political pressure over the mismanagement and mishandling of the disaster.  If PMs can lose their jobs, it’s safe to say that corporate leaders can also lose their jobs if they don’t show leadership and have some knowledge on managing disaster situations.

2 – Corporate Responses – Not all corporations with preparedness and response processes in place actually perform appropriately.  Some will still try to hide the situation and in what some might say, try to downplay the impacts.  This is bad crisis
management and bad public relations.  The nuclear plant at the centre of the controversy (the disaster) actually used employees to demonstrate that they plan was OK.  In fact, it wasn’t and seemed to be getting worse throughout time.  The point is that instead of managing the situation and communicating effectively, at one point the corporation was trying to show the opposite of the situation.

3 – Nuclear Free Zones – Even though many areas are struggling to provide enough power to their citizenry, some areas are beginning to look at stopping their nuclear programs altogether.  Around the world since the Japanese situation, power plants that were being developed have stopped being built or the plans have been stopped so that safety reviews can be performed before the
plant ever gets build – or comes on line.  When this occurs, it put many out of work, which isn’t an immediately know ramification of the earthquake and tsunami.  Especially when you consider these things are occurring in Europe and North America; thousands of miles away from Japan.

4 – Increased Civil Unrest – As a result of the nuclear plants problems, communities around the world are suddenly encountering civil demonstrations against the use of nuclear power.  This puts strain on police services and people that work in these areas.
When large demonstrations occur, corporations that aren’t in the nuclear industry can be impacted and thus must activate their contingency strategies.  Think of the G20/G8 summits over the years when there was much damage caused by demonstrators.  With the Japanese issues, the number of demonstrations against nuclear power has increased and has the ability to impact many other corporations.  (As of writing this, the “Occupy Wall Street” protests have spread to a global level.)

5 – Alternate Sources of Power – One of the positive aspects of the nuclear power plant problems in Japan has been an increased focus on renewable energies.  Many companies that deal with ‘green’ technologies have increased business and more and more people are turning to alternate sources.  Many people have placed solar panels on their roofs so that their isn’t as much dependency on nuclear and other (considered) dangerous methods of power creation.

6 – Increased Corporate Visibility – Regardless of what a corporation does, when a disaster occurs many begin to look at the preparedness levels of their own corporation.  In some cases, it may be that employees are asking about the corporate BCM/DR plan; in other cases, the queries are coming from business partners or potential business partners.  Either way, there is an increase in the visibility of corporate plans, which if they aren’t sufficient enough, or don’t address people’s concerns, are being questioned and communicated to others.  There were many reports by the media about what corporations would do if the same sort of disaster that occurred in Japan, occurred in the US, Canada, UK (and other countries).  Companies are now under the microscope even more so than before.  The financial crisis beginning in 2008 hasn’t help corporations hide behind their boardroom doors and stay under the radar.  The public (and employee) consciousness is now asking questions to ensure they will be safe in the event of a disaster.

Over the coming weeks, months and even years, we will continue to learn lesson from Japan.  We’ll also learn lessons from other disasters that seem to continue on an almost daily basis.  Not only are these situation disastrous and calamitous – especially for those that are impacted by them – they are also learning opportunities for companies, people and communities to help bolster
existing preparedness and response plans.  Japan, continues to show us learning opportunities and what happens if we (corporations, people, communities) aren’t prepared…just ask the former Prime Minister.

 **NOW AVAILABLE**

 “Heads in the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social Responsibility” and

“Made Again Volume 1 – Practical Advice for Business Continuity Programs”

by StoneRoad founder, A.Alex Fullick, MBCI, CBCP, CBRA, ITILv3

Available
at www.stone-road.com, www.amazon.com & www.volumesdirect.com