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I get it, its really hard to set a formal structure in place to govern what you do in your business, day to day, week in week out. Monthly and annual tasks are easier as they occur less regularly.

How do you control your diary and make sure there is room for all those unforeseen events and urgent customer requests that throw a spanner in the works. It’s going to be different for everyone, but here’s what I do, feel free to play with it and see if it works for you.

The first thing is to block off time in your diary, guard it jealously and as far as possible stick to it!

Every weekday between 0900-1000 is reserved for clearing up my email inbox, a social media post (like this one) and a bit of social media engagement on my favourite channels. No more than three, it can be a bit of a rabbit hole!

Monday Morning at 1000 we have our one team meeting where we go through the regular tasks for the week, allocate responsibilities and agree actions and timescales. I trust me team, so nothing should get missed.

Between 1000 – 1100 every other work day, I concentrate on sales and marketing activity within the business and with my sales team.

I schedule time for scheduled system tasks at 1200 noon every workday and between 1230-1300 I schedule in some other regular tasks I need to complete.

This leaves some time between 1100-1200 for urgent tasks and the rest of the day after 1300 for client meetings and other routine activity.

Towards the end of the day I factor in time for weekly management meetings, where I touch base with co-directors and other managers in the business.

Most days it works well, some days it just doesn’t happen, but that’s OK. I always have a structure to revert to as soon as I can and I can always move things around if I have to.

What does your work week look like and how do you control your diary?

Have a great day

 

 

One thing that has annoyed me for over 40 years (don’t worry it’s not a rant) is the fact that some customers refuse to enter into a partnership with a professional, who only has their best interest at heart?

For lack of the correct information about their situation we are unable to produce they result they want, and then they are dismayed that we were not able to do what they wanted.

This includes full disclosure of all relevant information about their business, all the quality information relating to security, construction, health and safety, internal processes, financial controls, operational management, to name but a few.

What we are always looking to get is the correct technical solution, at the lowest price as that is the best way to GAIN or RETAIN a client. We then disclose our fee up front, so you can see that it is reasonable and we take no commission so we are not beholden to any one insurer, making us completely independent. Working for our clients and no one else.

So do you want to work with a professional or get sold something buy a salesman. It might be cheaper but its unlikely to protect you when you need it.

Today I’m working on multi-chain bakery, preparing for meeting with the MD, an extremely nice man for whom I have the greatest regard. He’s extremely good at what he does and cares passionately about is brand and the quality of the products he manufactures and sells.

Just the sort of clients I love to work with.

Have a great day

Now to make sure it all works, and we have enhanced operational resilience across the organisation.

The final stage in any good continuity plan is VALIDATION. We need to know that the programme will remain effective, because things change in any organisation and continued validation will ensure overall resilience is maintained.

Validation is achieved by Exercising, Maintenance and Review.

First we must develop an exercise process to meet the needs of the organisation. Exercises can come in a number of forms.

1. Discussion based
2. Scenario exercises
3. Simulations
4. Live situational
5. Tests

Each type has its own characteristics and will fit a particular need but should always involve as much realism as possible. They should manage the risk of disruption to the business, and maximise costs and benefits.

Thorough planning and support is required. There should be a clear method to STOP the exercise if necessary and thorough debriefing is always required, followed by a detailed report.

These plans must be maintained over time, and reviewed regularly. Self-assessment, quality assurance, performance appraisals and supplier performance should be measured, and this should always be followed by a thorough management review, to #preserveprofitability

Once we have management buy in to business continuity objectives, have embedded the concept with staff and managers and have identified the key vulnerabilities, we go on to DESIGN THE SOLUTION specific to the business.

The solution will of course depend on the nature of the organisation and the products and or services that it seeks to deliver. The solution designed for a manufacturing company, will differ dramatically from that of a home nation-based charity.

We will look at risk and threat assessments before we decide on the appropriate business continuity solutions. We will consider interdependencies within the business, especially where solutions may rely on suppliers and their supply chains.

We may look at existing arrangements and adjust them according to the “Minimum Business Continuity Objective”. Cost effectiveness will always be a consideration. Top management will of course need to sign off the appropriate solutions.

Solutions should be consolidated by resource type to ensure they are consistent across the organisation and do not conflict with other objectives.

Finally, we will establish the projects required to implement the solutions, so the organisation can #justkeepgoing.

I really need to get this done quickly.

Once I have buy in from the top management in an organisation, I need to “embed” business continuity within it. To do this you almost need to talk to every member of staff, and at the very least all the middle management and operational managers.

They need to know that this is a core discipline within the business. Part of this process is reassuring them, that they will get adequate resource and support from their chain of command.

It is the operational and middle management that will have to implement the plans and activate response structures when things go wrong, whilst top management deal with communications, the press and reputational issues.

There are lots of ways to do this – seminars, training sessions, awareness campaigns, right down to toolbox talks on the shop floor.

So, to answer the first question, how long will it take?

This depends on the nature of the organisation, the number of staff and locations over which they operate, and it can be anything from 6 months, to 3 years.

Business Continuity is ongoing process which will lead to enhanced operational resilience at all levels and embedding that is absolutely critical.