COVID-19

COVID-19 and Business Continuity Plans: Are You Preparing?

As we monitor the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that the best way for us to support our clients is to make them aware of and offer assistance to them as it relates to messaging. 

With that being said, we have decided that although we are not a PR firm or a law firm we felt it was our duty to make you aware of a few things. 

The first thing we would like to bring your attention to, communications. Communication planning is an intricate part of preparedness and any continuity process. Clear and effective communication channels must remain available in order to disseminate information to employees, assess and relay damage, and coordinate a recovery strategy.

 What Is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity refers to maintaining business functions or quickly resuming them in the event of a major disruption. A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a plan-of-action a business puts in place that can be relied upon in the event of an emergency, when tension and stakes run high. 

It outlines the policies, procedures, and instructions a business must follow in the face an emergency (like COVID-19) or disaster. It covers items such as business processes, assets, human resources, business partners, and more.   

While the final BCP will be different for every business. A typical one might include evacuation plans, communication protocols, contact lists, key asset inventories, and anything else that would be important for when faced with a crisis.

Here are some key questions as it relates to communications, have you thought of or have you already addressed your plan for keeping your community safe as well as your staff? And if you have, how are you getting your message out? Remember, when faced with a catastrophe, people want clear, straightforward steps that they can follow and know they’ve covered their bases. 

If you have not yet, make sure to create a communications plan. Make sure to provide employees as well as customers/clients/residents/patients (depending on your business) with regular situation updates as well as actions taken. 

Verifiable News Sources

Additionally, take care to ground your communications in verifiable news sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).

Remember, communications are usually tailored to the recipients. Whether leaders, managers, employees or clients/customers/residents/or patients, respectively — methods to get your messaging out include:

  • Social media for public messages
  • Email, mail, text messages, hotlines and internal systems (i.e., intranet) to propagate pertinent information
  • Content of page
  • Signage to reinforce hygiene, screening and other organizational policies

Be Conscious Of The Effects Of Your Communications

Be aware of your impact and communicate To that end, many have:

  • Proscribed responses from managers if contacted by the media
  • Many have designated media relations personnel who address all questions from the media
  • Asked employees not to violate the privacy of diagnosed employees or clients/customers in social media messages
  • Deployed social media and marketing messaging about customer policies and alternative commerce/services

If you need help getting your messaging out, please let our office know. We are happy to assist in any way we can.

Be safe and know that we are here to assist you in any way we can.