Developing a business strategy for surviving a disaster and resuming operations as quickly as possible is often a challenging task that requires insights and input from several people. If you own a business, here’s a look at who should be involved in your company’s business continuity planning.

What People Should Be Involved in the Business Continuity Planning of a Business?

Senior Management and Officers

Anyone involved in senior management of your business ought to be consulted when developing a business continuity plan. Partners, presidents, vice presidents, and C-level executives will be able to help you determine what should be prioritized when drafting a continuity plan, and they may have additional insights into how potential disasters should be handled.

Before starting the business continuity planning process, message any partners, officers, or executives in your business and let them know that you want to broach the topic of continuity planning. This will give your fellow leaders time to consider the topic before they’re asked to give input on it.

An Information Technologies Representative

A representative from your business’ information technologies department can help shed light on technical issues related to disaster recovery planning, which is a component of continuity planning. They can field questions in meetings from senior managers, so the leadership team doesn’t have to message the IT department and wait for a response. A representative also might notice technical challenges that others involved in the continuity planning aren’t aware of.

A Front-Line Employee

Similarly, bringing a front-line employee into the discussion at times can help senior management understand your business’ operations from a different perspective. Someone who is engaged your business’ day-to-day operations will have thoughts on what will work, what won’t work, and what could be improved.

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You may not want to have a lower-level employee attend every meeting, but consulting them periodically throughout the process will give them a chance to provide insights without divulging too much sensitive information or overtaking the discussion.

A Business Continuity Planning Advisor

Most senior managers, officers, and executives aren’t experts in continuity planning. After all, it’s just one of their many responsibilities – and often one they don’t have a lot of experience in.

Because most business leaders aren’t expert continuity planners, it’s often wise to consult a professional who does have experience developing business continuity plans. An advisor who had assisted other businesses will be able to:

• Layout the process of developing a business continuity plan
• Help business leaders avoid common pitfalls throughout the process
• Answer questions leaders have about the process or their business’ particular plan
• Offer suggestions on how to improve a continuity plan

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Managers and Customer Service Representatives

Once your business has a continuity plan, any employees who will be responsible for executing the plan during a disaster should be made aware of it. Managers should be made aware of the plan, as they’ll need to know how to guide employees following a disaster. You may also want to share the plan with customer service representatives, so they know what to tell customers if something happens.

Get Help Creating Your Massachusetts Business’ Continuity Plan

To get help drafting a continuity plan for your business, contact an advisor in the state who specializes in business continuity planning. They can give you suggestions on how to start creating a plan, and they’ll be able to tell you when each of these people should be brought in. Throughout the entire process, an advisor who is familiar with continuity planning will be there to answer your questions and make sure your business has a strong plan in case the unexpected happens.