The possibility of a widespread flu outbreak is prompting companies to think about business continuity and how options such as teleworking or telecommuting may become a necessity. Other unexpected events such as terrorism, natural disasters including ice storms, and even a transit strike or severed cable can similarly affect your ability to do business for a short or long period.
An emergency such as a pandemic can have three main effects on your operations: Loss of workplace, loss of technology or access to technology, and loss of staff. All of these can have a long-term impact on your business, particularly if it is already weakened by the economic downturn. Business continuity planning (BCP) aims to keep your staff connected, secure and protected during a disaster.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 emphasized the importance of BCP that includes both human resources and infrastructure. In its advice on pandemic preparedness, the government of Canada notes that lessons learned from Sept. 11 include anticipating the loss of key personnel, analyzing dependencies and interdependencies, and the importance of telecommunications.
Issues specific to a pandemic that may affect your operations include: * Reduced frequency of face-to-face meetings * Reduced or eliminated business travel * Government imposed quarantines and/or self-imposed quarantines * Increased or reduced customer demand * Varying levels of absenteeism over many months as a pandemic occurs in waves Additional absenteeism for child care because of closed schools or caring for ill family members Teleworking can reduce the impact of all these scenarios, avoiding reduced productivity, lost revenue and damage to relationships with customers and other stakeholders. Depending on the scenario, telework locations can include your satellite locations, clients' facilities, employees' homes, or public or private sites such as cafes, hotels and municipal facilities.
A report by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) exploring teleworking as a business continutity strategy states that organizations that have remote work policies in place fare better in an emergency situation. "Their teleworkers already know how to gain access to corporate systems remotely, are more adept at handling technology and connection problems on their own, and are able to work more successfully unsupervised." ITAC points out that geographic dispersal of staff achieved by teleworking also protects them in the face of a disaster.
Infrastructure is not enough
In many cases, organizations have much of the infrastructure for teleworking in place. Employees are now much more open to the idea of teleworking than even five years ago and many workers are already mobile. Some organizations already use audio and video conferencing to connect geographically separate workgroups. All of this makes teleworking a natural business continuity strategy for many organizations. It does not, however, mean they are ready to cope with a disaster tomorrow.
Two key pieces are essential to be ready to put a teleworking infrastructure into action in an emergency: a formal policy, and frequent testing.
Don't fall into the trap of putting the infrastructure in place without establishing structure for the users. Formal policies and procedures allow employees to operate independently and confidently, even if key players are unavailable.
Even formal procedures won't assure success without frequent testing of both infrastructure and culture or human-resources structure. Now is the time to begin testing your teleworking procedures with the people who will actually be using them.
ITAC recommends that your BCP identifies telework-ready employees and logs their capabilities, contact information and equipment. Reorganizing work processes now to facilitate electronic communication and eliminate paper-based processes provides useful flexibility and cost savings in ordinary times that could prove invaluable in the case of an emergency.
This brings up the economies of a teleworking solution for business continuity. ITAC estimates the annual per-seat costs of a dedicated hot-site for business continuity at $15,000 to $20,000, compared to $300 to $2,200 per seat for a telework solution. As we have discussed here before, using teleworking solutions on a day-to-day basis also garners other benefits in cost, productivity, flexibility, environmental impact and employee satisfaction.
The right teleworking solution
Obviously none of this can work if you don't have the infrastructure in place. In an emergency, employees need secure remote access to data, computer applications, and network and phone services, with sufficient capacity to do their jobs and maintain seamless communications with their own team, other departments, customers, and other stakeholders.
Key components to consider in a virtual workplace solution include:
Security: Security is always critical for virtual workers. During a pandemic, network security and data security become even more important.
Collaboration and social networking tools: It will be vitally important to have the right collaboration and social networking tools in place to ensure co-workers can communicate during a pandemic. Sharing information through blogs and wikis, for example can be invaluable.
Mobility tools: These tools ensure your team can continue to prospect and interact with customers while remaining connected to your organization.
Project management: A formal telework policy establishes a culture in which telework is accepted and includes frequent testing of both technical and human resources.
There are a range of solutions available to keep your employees connected, secure, and productive during a pandemic or disaster. Work with a partner that understands technology, process and culture. Click here to evaluate and learn more about options for meeting your organization's specific business continuity needs. http://www.virtualworkplace.allstream.com - 33376
An emergency such as a pandemic can have three main effects on your operations: Loss of workplace, loss of technology or access to technology, and loss of staff. All of these can have a long-term impact on your business, particularly if it is already weakened by the economic downturn. Business continuity planning (BCP) aims to keep your staff connected, secure and protected during a disaster.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 emphasized the importance of BCP that includes both human resources and infrastructure. In its advice on pandemic preparedness, the government of Canada notes that lessons learned from Sept. 11 include anticipating the loss of key personnel, analyzing dependencies and interdependencies, and the importance of telecommunications.
Issues specific to a pandemic that may affect your operations include: * Reduced frequency of face-to-face meetings * Reduced or eliminated business travel * Government imposed quarantines and/or self-imposed quarantines * Increased or reduced customer demand * Varying levels of absenteeism over many months as a pandemic occurs in waves Additional absenteeism for child care because of closed schools or caring for ill family members Teleworking can reduce the impact of all these scenarios, avoiding reduced productivity, lost revenue and damage to relationships with customers and other stakeholders. Depending on the scenario, telework locations can include your satellite locations, clients' facilities, employees' homes, or public or private sites such as cafes, hotels and municipal facilities.
A report by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) exploring teleworking as a business continutity strategy states that organizations that have remote work policies in place fare better in an emergency situation. "Their teleworkers already know how to gain access to corporate systems remotely, are more adept at handling technology and connection problems on their own, and are able to work more successfully unsupervised." ITAC points out that geographic dispersal of staff achieved by teleworking also protects them in the face of a disaster.
Infrastructure is not enough
In many cases, organizations have much of the infrastructure for teleworking in place. Employees are now much more open to the idea of teleworking than even five years ago and many workers are already mobile. Some organizations already use audio and video conferencing to connect geographically separate workgroups. All of this makes teleworking a natural business continuity strategy for many organizations. It does not, however, mean they are ready to cope with a disaster tomorrow.
Two key pieces are essential to be ready to put a teleworking infrastructure into action in an emergency: a formal policy, and frequent testing.
Don't fall into the trap of putting the infrastructure in place without establishing structure for the users. Formal policies and procedures allow employees to operate independently and confidently, even if key players are unavailable.
Even formal procedures won't assure success without frequent testing of both infrastructure and culture or human-resources structure. Now is the time to begin testing your teleworking procedures with the people who will actually be using them.
ITAC recommends that your BCP identifies telework-ready employees and logs their capabilities, contact information and equipment. Reorganizing work processes now to facilitate electronic communication and eliminate paper-based processes provides useful flexibility and cost savings in ordinary times that could prove invaluable in the case of an emergency.
This brings up the economies of a teleworking solution for business continuity. ITAC estimates the annual per-seat costs of a dedicated hot-site for business continuity at $15,000 to $20,000, compared to $300 to $2,200 per seat for a telework solution. As we have discussed here before, using teleworking solutions on a day-to-day basis also garners other benefits in cost, productivity, flexibility, environmental impact and employee satisfaction.
The right teleworking solution
Obviously none of this can work if you don't have the infrastructure in place. In an emergency, employees need secure remote access to data, computer applications, and network and phone services, with sufficient capacity to do their jobs and maintain seamless communications with their own team, other departments, customers, and other stakeholders.
Key components to consider in a virtual workplace solution include:
Security: Security is always critical for virtual workers. During a pandemic, network security and data security become even more important.
Collaboration and social networking tools: It will be vitally important to have the right collaboration and social networking tools in place to ensure co-workers can communicate during a pandemic. Sharing information through blogs and wikis, for example can be invaluable.
Mobility tools: These tools ensure your team can continue to prospect and interact with customers while remaining connected to your organization.
Project management: A formal telework policy establishes a culture in which telework is accepted and includes frequent testing of both technical and human resources.
There are a range of solutions available to keep your employees connected, secure, and productive during a pandemic or disaster. Work with a partner that understands technology, process and culture. Click here to evaluate and learn more about options for meeting your organization's specific business continuity needs. http://www.virtualworkplace.allstream.com - 33376
About the Author:
Allstream is a leader in the evolution of teleworking and virtualworkplace solutions.Learn more at Allstream?s Pandemic Planning and Productivity Enhancement Solutions resource portal.
