Often, success in professional and personal life depends on the risks you are willing to take. This is why contingency plans are so important! It allows you to manage risk and prepare for the worst if things go south.
If your business is scaling, and the volume of your sales queries is rising, you naturally need more staff. Outsourcing call center solutions from providers like Telvista could help you manage the call volumes and focus on your core business operations. But oftentimes, you need to do more. This is why even call center solutions to require contingency planning.
Good contingency planning is the difference between success and failure. It’s kind of a backup plan that lays out how you will respond if because of unforeseen events your plans go off track. If you have realized the need for contingency plans for your business, the steps shared in this blog will help you get started.
How to Make Contingency Plans?
Save the time, money, and resources of your company by following these steps to create a viable contingency plan:
1: Jot Down the List of Risks
What’s an obvious way of resolving a risk? By identifying them. So, what are the risks that could impact the success of your decision? List them down. Remember that you might need to create contingency plans for different levels such as business or departmental levels. Therefore, while highlighting the risks, make sure they are aligned with the scope and magnitude of the risks on all levels.
2: Prioritize the Risks
Step two is to prioritize the risks based on the intensity of the threat. Here, you can use a risk impact probability chart. This tool you can easily access that if a risk is to occur, would its impact be catastrophic for the said project, or would it just be a minor inconvenience. You will probably have to involve your manager in this type of risk assessment since they have the right knowledge for estimating the impact of the risk.
3: Create a Plan for Each Risk Event
The next step involves creating separate plans that outline a set of actions to take if any risk occurs. These actions must outline what needs to be done to resume normal business operations even after the impact.
The plan must clearly mention all employee responsibilities in detail along with timelines to minimize the loss and restore the operations. Besides documented text, feel free to add visuals wherever possible. This will make it easier for everyone to comprehend things.
4: Share the Plan
Once the contingency document is ready, share it with your employees and stakeholders. If you need help with crafting a document, you can always use a crisis management app containing contingency plans and other relevant documents. These plans can be shared with each employee on their respective device.
With this approach, your employees won’t need traditional hard-copy binders to follow a plan in case something goes wrong. They can quickly access the plan via their smartphones and other mobile devices and act accordingly.
5: Maintain It Regularly
Let’s you took a huge risk and you didn’t have to use the contingency plans because nothing went wrong. There is a good chance the steps outlined in the plan are no longer relatable or applicable. Therefore, reviewing the plan from time to time is important, especially after significant business decisions. You have to be certain that it is still accurate.
You may have to go back to step one and identify new risks and opportunities and start the process all over again. Also, some scenarios that you were once concerned about may no longer be a threat or impact your team as much.
Avoid These Pitfalls for a Successful Contingency Plans
To ensure that your contingency plans are processed as smoothly as possible, here are some pitfalls to avoid:
Not Checking in With Your Sponsors
Creating contingency plans is hard work. make sure you have the support of the key stakeholders. Continue to check with your sponsors so that you’re certain their risks are addressed. Let them know that their opinion matters.
Not Reviewing It
Don’t treat your contingency plan as a one-time thing. You can’t just create a document and let it sit there. You must regularly go back and revise it. If necessary, set reminders to revise the plan after every 6 months. There’s always some room for improvement.
Final Words
No matter how many hours and days you put into creating contingency plans, it’s never truly finished or perfect.
It’s best to test your plan from time to time. This helps validate if you will actually be able to manage risks. While testing your current strategies for identifying gaps, it’s also important to validate your plans. Testing the viability of the plan will help you identify opportunities for improvement and prepare your organization for success.
