Posted by Jean McKay on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 11:40 AM
Change is hard! There is no doubt that for most people and companies it is difficult to get everyone to agree and on board and then execute change in processes. We are often stuck in doing things ‘because we’ve always done it that way”. Sometimes that’s okay. It represents a tried and tested method that actually works for your organization. But are you sure that’s the situation? How do you know the difference between those processes that are in place because they work well, and the ones that are there because, well, because we’ve just always done it that way?
One of the ways you can find out the difference is to talk to the people executing the process. Ask them why they do it this way. If they can explain it, then it is probably one of the tested processes that is in place because it works well for them. If they can’t explain why, or they say just because that is how they were taught to do it, you might want to take a closer look at that one.
This is where fresh eyes and having new people on a team is so valuable. They HAVE to ask why or they won’t understand what’s going on. If the other people on the team cannot reasonably explain why to the new person, there may be a hidden problem.
Another way to tell the difference would be to diagram the process in some type of flow chart. Just follow the steps that are taken. Then ask for the justification or reasoning behind each step. You be able to expose wasted steps or gaps.
Remember that time changes everything, so a process that worked well at one point, may no longer be efficient because something else in its environment has changed, which makes it ineffective now.
How does all that relate to risk analysis? Take at look at your process for identifying potential threats and opportunities now. Is there a process? What are the steps? Can you diagram a flow chart? Ask the people who are involved why they do it this way. Is there even a process in place at all or is it just an afterthought? Take at look at the overview of my risk analysis process and compare it to what you are doing now. If you are constantly reacting to problems that were not anticipated, if you run around with your hair on fire trying dealing with problems, this may be one of the areas where you need to re-think and change your process.
I'll talk about how to make change happen so it's not quite so painful in a future post.
Posted by Jean McKay on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 05:13 PM
What if something terrible happened and you lost everything? How would you recover? I’m not trying to scary here, but let’s think about it. Things happen all the time that cost us some loss. For instance, your battery dies in your phone and you lose your contacts. But it’s ok, because you can sync it with your computer that has the same information on it. You prepared for this potential problem. What if your hard drive in your computer failed and you lost all the photos of your kids that you have been storing there for years? That’s ok top because you have been good about doing your data backup. You have, haven’t you?
You have purchased fire insurance and liability insurance and hopefully health insurance. These are all in place ‘just in case’. So it’s not that you have done nothing about disaster recovery. The question is, have you done enough? Do you even know what is enough or what areas you should be concerned with?
There is more
- technology
- methods of communication
- online banking
- online shopping
- all sorts of daily activities
And with them come great advantages! But they also come with a slew of potential problems.
Do you worry about this stuff? Does it keep you up at night wondering what would happen if you got laid off from your job? How would you pay the bills?
What if:
- your luggage was lost when you travel for work?
- your laptop was stolen that had your company proprietary information on it?
- you left your wallet or pocketbook in the dressing room of a store and it was gone when you realized it and went back?
If these things bother you, if you cause yourself stress by worrying about this sort of thing, you don’t need to! You do not need to feel this anxiety. You need to live your life fully, and have fun, and relax, and focus. You do not need to spend time worry about the ‘what if’s’. I can show you how to put plans in place to handle many of these problems and any other that is specific to your situation.
There is a process to help you determine what you have that is of value (and you determine what value means) and what you have that is at risk, and establish methods of dealing with it all. It is the process of planning for Business Continuity. Wait, you say! You are an individual, not a business. Even if you are employed by a business or if you are a business owner, this is about your life. Your personal life is your Personal Business. It’s difficult to separate the two these days anyway! You do want all your personal business and assets to continue and to be protected properly, don’t you? Let’s approach your personal life and assets like it is a business.
These two terms, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity, work together. Planning for them ensures that you, in your personal life, and your family, will be able to:
- survive a disaster
- function through the timeframe of the disaster
- recover to the state you were in previous to the disaster event
This is a way for you to plan to be able to not only survive, but continue to live your life in the best way possible during and get back to the point you had achieved afterwards. How does that sound?
Posted by Jean McKay on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 05:08 PM
There are a couple of terms that are used consistently to define these processes.
The first is Disaster Recovery. This means earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and the like. These are disasters. But it depends on where you live or where you are at any time which ones you may be subject to. These are natural disasters. There are also man-made disasters, such as terrorist attacks, theft, physical assaults, etc. Would you agree that any of those would cause you a disastrous situation?
The other term is Business Continuity. This means making sure your business can continue to operate even through a disastrous event and survive afterwards. Disaster recovery is one part of a Business continuity plan.
These two terms, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity, work together. Planning for them ensures that your company will be able to survive a disaster, or any event that you can anticipate occurring that would negatively impact your business operations.
But more than that, it also mean the company will be able to function during and through the timeframe of the disaster, and then recover to the state it was in previous to the disaster event.
There is one more aspect of this. Opportunities. Your company can probably can do a better job of taking advantage of the few opportunities that come along if this same process is used to plan for them.
Posted by Jean McKay on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 05:05 PM
Whether you are a small shop with a few employees, a large company, or a one man show, your business is your livelihood and may provide the livelihood for many others. You want it to be successful and grow. So you do whatever you can to enhance it, and to protect it. What would happen if some type of disaster beset the company and you could not contact your clients, or could not perform the functions you have contracts that you have committed to that will not be fulfilled?
In case of emergency there are usually evacuation routes posted in a building. Most people buy insurance to cover damages, and most people using computers do back up their information. But there is so much more to it than that. We are facing more natural disasters than ever, and we have a slew of manmade problems to protect ourselves from. Do you worry about this stuff? Does it keep you up at night wondering if your network is fully protected from hackers, or if your IT staff was able to capture the latest transactions in case that old server crashes before you can afford to replace it? Do you have concerns about how your business would continue to function if certain events occurred?
If these things bother you, cause you stress by worrying about this sort of thing, the information here can help you. You do not need to feel this anxiety. You need to run your business, focus on the job, increase sales and profit. You need to live your life, and have fun, and relax, and focus. You do not need to spend time worrying about the ‘what if’s’.
Business Continuity is a way to ensure that your organization can continue to support your clients even during some type of incident or event and that it will survive afterwards. There are several aspects to this that help you determine what you have that is of value (and you determine what value means) and what you have that is at risk, and what is the best thing to do about it.