
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the way companies run their usual business processes. It has pushed business owners to be more resourceful and to find ways to thrive, or at least, stay afloat. According to a business continuity survey by Gartner, only 12% of 1,500 organizations surveyed believe that they are highly-prepared for the effects of the coronavirus. This only goes to show that most organizations do not value the importance of risk management. If you are a company owner, and you would like to make sure that your business gets to operate as usual, then you should see to it that you have the right measures in place to guarantee that your processes are not affected by any crisis, such as the coronavirus pandemic. To help you set up your business continuity measures, here are some recommendations on how you can manage risks brought about by possible business interruptions such as a pandemic.
1. Take preventive measures
Your ability to swiftly mitigate the impact of business risks can help you ensure business continuity. To make sure that your company remains operational even when these risks emerge, it’s best to have a risk management function in place. With a risk management approach, you can effectively gain high-quality risk insights laid out in detailed and well-written reports. This will help you position your company better and diminish the possibility of any major business disruption.
2. Prepare by identifying important processes
Apart from having a risk management function in place, you also need to identify which processes should be prioritized in case a crisis hits your business. One of the things that you should prioritize is setting up a command center composed of a virtual workforce, focusing on tasks that involve productivity, quality and compliance monitoring, as well as business intelligence, workforce management and employee well-being initiatives. This way, if any market disruptions occur, such as that of a world pandemic, you still have a skeletal team that can help keep your business in operation.
3. Be proactive and customer-oriented
In everything that you do in your business, keep in mind that your customers’ satisfaction should be a part of your priorities. See to it that you have a sustainable solution to providing customer support, especially during a crisis. To do this, work with a team of people who can consistently commit to customers’ needs. You can also look into outsourcing your customer support needs to help you make sure that customer service is available around the clock, if possible. This can also help you better manage the costs.
4. Allow employees to work-from-home
In case a pandemic-like situation arises, the best workplace for your employees will be their own homes. This is why it’s never too early to give them the option to work-from-home every now and then, so that in case a health and safety issue hampers your office operations, the availability of the work-from-home option can help you stick to your usual business operations as much as possible.
5. Setup clear communication channels
Managing your team’s communication effectively is key to improving your chances of success. It’s important to keep information moving towards the right direction, as if this aspect of your business is not handled properly, it can affect your performance and make it more difficult for your team to survive through a crisis. See to it that your employees are all aware of your communication channels and understand how to communicate specific concerns and issues that they might encounter. A clear and effective team communication can help enhance your team development, improve your means of communication with stakeholders and customers, and save you time and resources.
6. Strengthen employees support system
Your manpower is one of the most important resources in your business. To get your business operations going, even amidst a crisis, you should look after your team’s overall welfare so that they can continue handling their respective tasks. With a strong support system for your employees, you can make sure that your employees are happy and healthy. This can help boost your employee retention rate and eliminate any operation disruptions which may arise from people leaving your company.
7. Establish an agile team
To build a highly-productive and agile team, it’s important that you start by providing your team with work conditions that foster high productivity and quality performance. To achieve this, you should start by building dedicated team members. This means each team member should focus on one task and nothing more. This can help improve their focus and boost their productivity. Transparency of tasks and their progress can also help boost your team’s agility. Setting up a clear team process will also help make it easy for your team to take the right action, especially when problems arise.
8. Setup a diversity of service models
Apart from relying on your in-house team, a great way for you to improve your business continuity approach is by setting up diverse service models. With a diversity of team members, you won’t have to worry about discontinuing your operations, in case a world crisis, such as a pandemic, occurs. As a buffer, you can outsource your other services and avoid total stoppage of your business. By working with a reliable outsourcing company, you can also get more work done for a fraction of the cost of working with in-house employees. Through outsourcing, you can optimize the use of your funds and resources, helping your business stay strong even through a crisis.
If you are considering outsourcing some of your business operations but don’t know how to proceed, talk to us here at Assivo. We can provide you with a comprehensive guidance to help you understand what you can expect by choosing to outsource.