In my last post, I mentioned that standard policies can help with contingency planning. Similarly, policies put in place during the COVID-19 (or any) crisis can create needs for additional contingency plans, and become the basis of revised internal policies.
With many states requiring non-essential personnel to work from home, companies that can have put tools in place to allow remote work. Those companies unable to work remotely, which is most of the non-technology-based sectors, have to reduce staff or take other actions. The re-hiring and re-starting of production or service, once the crisis winds down is going to create additional risks with the need for potential contingencies:
Is the start-up process for production documented with appropriate maintenance, training, and safety checks in place, especially if there is a risk of new people starting up the process?
How will supervisors ensure their areas of responsibility are operating safely and as required by the business?
Will the supply process deliver expected volumes and quality of raw materials as production resumes, or will there be constraints on supply? How do you know?
What will happen if the down-stream distribution is constrained? Will you throttle production or stockpile? If you stockpile, how much capacity is there and when would you throttle production?
As you can see, it is easy to start thinking of risks that will require additional contingency plans. As you develop plans for the risk you prioritize, you should then feed those plans back into your standard operating procedures to ensure you are that much more ready the next time a crisis hits.
