The nature of an emergency or disaster is
its unpredictablity. However, organizations which have done their
homework ahead of time can reduce losses and be better prepared
to continue operating and communicating with employees and customers
during the aftermath. The ability to telework and familiarity
with procedures involved have proven to be a key asset in emergency
management.
The following checklists detail questions most employers should
be able to answer and tasks that should be accomplished ahead
of time to ensure business continuity.
In the event of an emergency, has your
organization determined the answers to these questions?
Tasks to help prepare for an emergency
situation:
- Create a list of
employees already teleworking and/or those who can start immediately
as well as their contact information.
- Designate an IT/IS point person in charge
of ensuring employees can gain remote access.
- Designate a company-wide coordinator or "task
force" to act as the primary source of information and guidance
in such situations.
- Develop a telework kit for regular and potential
ad hoc teleworkers that includes basic guidelines, a list of important
numbers and e-mail addresses, passwords and procedures for staying
in communication and backing up key data.
- Backup records/data regularly in case network
is lost.
- Ask all employees to become familiar with
telework procedures, technologies and remote access to company
servers and to have a plan for how they might work remotely in
an emergency situation.
- Make sure secure access to corporate data
and applications is available and a backup system is in place
should the primary system go down.
- Make sure the telecommunication system allows
for call forwarding.
- Provide emergency teleworkers with calling
cards to use for business calls.
