When it comes to executing an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) or Continuity of Operations/Government Plan (COOP/COG), BOLDplanning knows success hinges on one important factor—people. Or, more specifically, teams of people. These teams, which are usually made up of individuals with various skills and from entirely different departments, must work together to achieve a shared goal. In the world of crisis planning, that shared goal is resilience.

Unfortunately, attaining the goal of resilience can prove tougher than you think. Why? If the roles and responsibilities of team members aren’t well identified, fully documented and clearly communicated, assumptions will be made. Some individuals or entire teams may not complete their required tasks, and others may be quick to point a finger of blame. As a result, relationships may suffer, and even worse, the road to resilience may prove even longer the next time around.

Here’s the good news. These common pitfalls are almost always avoidable. As a solid first step, consider the following seven questions when you start to write or update your organization’s emergency or continuity plan.

  1. Who are the key people, i.e., team members, within our organization and outside our organization?
  2. Have we established teams within our plan and are the people organized on these teams?
  3. Is senior management involved in and just as important, supportive of, our teams?
  4. Are team members aware and understanding of their roles and responsibilities to their team(s)?
  5. Do we have current contact information for all team members? And, is there a process in place to keep such details up to date?
  6. Have we conducted planning meetings, or drills and exercises, to discuss the details of our teams and their responsibilities?
  7. Who is responsible for communicating plan changes to all team members and what is the frequency of such communication?

Questions like these may seem elementary, especially to seasoned planners, yet many organizations cannot answer them with 100% certainty. That’s where BOLDplanning can help.

Our certified team of planning experts understands all that can happen, good or bad, if there’s no teamwork before, during and after a critical event. They find and fill critical gaps in your emergency or continuity plan, and they help you build and update teams using our unparalleled online planning platform (software). Moreover, our training and exercise practitioners work to ensure the integrity of those plans on a continued basis.

Just last week, BOLDplanning addressed the topic of teams during its monthly best practices webinar. If you were among the many who joined the “Teams in Continuity Planning” discussion, thank you. If you were not, but want to learn more, simply email info@BOLDplanning and request a link to the recording.

You know resilience takes a lot of teamwork. And that teamwork takes a lot of planning. We believe that