Does automated business really continue as usual?

Business continuity – keeping the doors open, no matter what – is a goal that nearly every business owner has, regardless of the type of business, why not try an automated business plan. Managing operations effectively, maintaining profitability, and making sure that customers and employees are satisfied are vital elements for business continuity, but alone they do not provide a guarantee against closure. A successful, profitable business that is located in an area where natural disasters are a seldom occurrence does not mean that it will remain open. Chemical spills, ice storms, and pandemics can prevent access to the office. A mandatory quarantine can be as disastrous as a flood when processes are unclear or must be stalled, even if a company’s documents and data are accessible.

Far more common than natural or manmade disasters, employee turnover, strikes, or walkouts can result in the loss of significant corporate knowledge as well as inconsistent work quality. New staff members have to figure out the expected routines and work their way toward success. Customer service standards, service level agreements, and regulations can become difficult to meet. Without a well-conceived plan, a business can suffer greatly, and in a worst-case scenario, it can collapse.

This article is intended to help businesses that are trying to decide if they need a continuity plan as well as those that are seeking to create or revise one. It will also assist companies that are thinking about creating a plan in conjunction with current or planned process automation. Practical considerations are shared for getting started on the right foot, including end user acceptance testing and other tips to encourage staff to buy into the process. Operators and end users will learn how business continuity planning can be used as the foundation for future process automation and greater organizational efficiency.

BACKGROUND

More than just planning for disasters: why an automated business continuity plan is essential

Many people focus on catastrophic events when considering measures that would potentially cause business operations to be severely impacted or come to a complete halt. There are also standard, everyday business challenges that benefit from a solid plan. There is no question that a hurricane, flood, fire, or pandemic could have devastating impact on a business and challenge its ability to survive if detailed measures are not put in place. Yet one invisible and largely unavoidable culprit creeps into many organizations on a regular basis, and creates challenges that can be as serious as natural disasters: employee turnover.

Approximately one in four people in professional occupations voluntarily leave their positions in a given year, according to 2006 statistics. In addition to the inconvenience of losing extra hands in the office, employee turnover typically results in a tremendous loss of corporate knowledge, particularly if a company still stores most of its information on paper. Business needs that are communicated verbally and through emails and other media that have not been archived, indexed, and are not searchable add to the knowledge deficit. Loss of an employee, whether the person is a manager or a line worker, results in incomplete, delayed, or stopped processes, frustrated customers, and poorer service. Workers who remain and who temporarily try to fill the gap can suffer from lower morale, lacking the knowledge and resources to carry work forward, and finding that customers are unhappy with their service due to no direct fault of their own.

Enabling stability and constancy in an era of aging workers

Contributing to the turnover issue is the increasing challenge presented by an aging, retiring population and the mounting difficulty of attracting and maintaining top talent in a dwindling pool of available candidates. This phenomenon results in lost employees, new hires, temporary personnel, and staff who are asked to take on unfamiliar tasks and stretch their time and talents to the limit. All of these scenarios require significant training, retraining, planning, and communication in order to enable seamless continuation of a business. With a well-conceived, thoroughly written, and properly communicated business continuity plan, the gaps can disappear like ripples in a pond, and are completely inconspicuous to customers and other employees and partners involved in the business. When a continuity plan is combined with business process automation, the costs of replacing an employee, which are reported to be as high as 1.5 times a worker’s salary per year, are dramatically reduced. When implemented alongside process automation, the plan makes new and temporary hires immediately productive.

Employees who have no intention of leaving their jobs can also be challenged by the lack of documentation to do their jobs properly and prepare them for the unexpected. In a 2007 survey by Accenture, it was reported that nearly 60% of people surveyed reported that as a consequence of poor information distribution, they miss information that might be valuable to their jobs on a daily basis, or simply can not find it. More than one third of the respondents reported that there is so much information available that it is hard to find the right piece of data. Although document management and workflow technologies provide tools to address these specific issues, the business continuity plan clarifies and communicates consistent strategies for routine processes, lessening even these concerns. The business continuity plan lays the foundation for electronic business processes when a company has made the decision to automate.

GETTING STARTED

Developing and communicating your corporate philosophy

Although a automated business continuity plan (ABCP) might seem like a logical initiative that should be approved with little resistance, too frequently the foresight and commitment needed for successful execution are missing. Dedicating the resources needed to create, implement, and maintain a automated business continuity plan is essential to its success. The value of business continuity planning has to be included as one of the cornerstones of a company’s corporate philosophy. It must be communicated clearly and with enthusiasm, since it will undoubtedly increase the workload for those involved until it is complete. ABCP demands considerable analysis of a company’s physical environment, document inventory, standard processes, and customary exceptions. It requires numerous extra meetings and communications at all levels within a company, and requires a detailed written plan as a result of the analysis and dialogue. None of this can happen as thoroughly as it must unless members of staff understand its pertinence to each of them being able to continue in their jobs—and potentially even keep the company open—in the event of a disaster. Without top-down corporate commitment, enthusiasm, and good communication, there can not be a good plan.

Automated Business continuity 101: questions to ask before you get started

The most critical elements in automated business continuity planning are to have an accessible customer database, contact information for other businesses on which your company is reliant, and well-documented business processes. Although equipment such as cell phones and copiers can be replaced relatively easily in the event of loss, information about a company’s customers and business partners is difficult, if not impossible, to restore. Although the answers to the following questions might seem obvious to management from a birds-eye viewpoint, the persons responsible for ABCP need to find and record detailed answers:

Who are our customers? Where does this information reside? What documents and data about our customers are critical in order for us to continue serving our customers in the event of unforeseen circumstances that would prevent access to our normal working environment?
Are there companies that provide products and/or services to our company, without which we would be unable to deliver our company’s own products and services?
Which information would be crippling to our business if we were to lose it?
Are there government or industry regulations with which we have to comply in order to avoid costly penalties or lawsuits?

Although each business will have different questions to ask depending on their type of business, the answers to these questions help to create a framework for a company’s unique ABCP methodology.

Defining business-critical information and processes

The definition of business-critical information varies greatly from business to business. The key is to examine your company’s mission statement (written or unwritten) and to candidly consider which areas of the business are required to run smoothly from day to day in order for business to continue. Which documents and databases (or files) are vital to your organization? These documents and files should be imaged electronically first, and then backed up (potentially in real time if this is vital to your company) and stored in an off-site location or on a mirrored server.

Which files are purely archival and are not required for day-to-day operations? Those may be a second priority in your back-up strategy. What equipment—including software applications and the hardware needed to run them—is required in order to ensure that you can access your data so that your processes continue to run smoothly? Which steps, if any, can you afford to postpone or delay? Do the employees who carry out the mission-critical parts of your business use laptops? If not, will they be able to continue mission-critical work in the event that circumstances prevent them from coming into the office? If so, are they required to take their laptops home with them so that they are able to keep time-sensitive projects moving? Is there a site that could become an alternative office on very short notice in the event that this is necessary? Could it quickly and easily be equipped with everything that you would need? On a more basic level, what WOULD you need?

Analyzing business continuity needs: a top-down approach that involves everyone

Understanding all of your business processes thoroughly requires a drill-down analysis. The larger a department or company becomes, the less likely that anyone has complete knowledge of every step involved in each process. Executives at the top of the organization customarily have a solid overview of departmental business objectives and areas of responsibility as well as where each puzzle piece fits within the company’s framework, but they may not have an in-depth knowledge of how each task is completed and who provides information to complete essential tasks. People at the bottom of the hierarchy may have access to every detail of several specific processes, but may lack the understanding of how the pieces fit together and their relative importance to the stability of the business.

By starting at the top of the organizational hierarchy, management can document the framework for the business: the major areas of business at the top level of the hierarchy (such as accounting, sales, HR, etc.); who is responsible for each of these areas at the next level down in the hierarchy; and his or her primary duties. These persons then document how each of these duties is fulfilled on a step-by-step basis. Next, they outline the subdivisions of duties within their departments or business areas; the objectives and major tasks; and who is responsible for completing them at the next level down in the hierarchy. This continues through the lowest level of the hierarchy, ensuring that the details that are managed by these persons are also documented thoroughly and nothing is missed. Every step of the way, documents, processes, software, hardware, and the physical/environmental requirements need to be considered.

Communicating automated business continuity details from the bottom to the top

Since the amount of information that is gathered can be mindboggling, a visual overview of each process is essential in addition to the written documentation. Diagramming is vital for each process. Visually depict who is responsible for each step, which tasks are required in that step, which persons need to approve, deny, or sign off on a document or process, where it goes next, and for what step it is intended. After the company’s processes have been analyzed from the top downward to gather detailed information, the processes should be diagrammed from the bottom back up to the top, building a process pyramid.

Diagrams should reflect how work is handled in the event of exceptions—including workers who are unable to handle their specific procedures at a given time and processes that can not be handled by the standard rules. As the diagrams are completed, each of the persons involved should be able to verify that the details of his or her personal area of work are correct. When the diagramming is finished, along with the accompanying text that provides the details included in each step of each diagram, some of the most important groundwork for a successful business continuity plan will have been laid.

Understanding and documenting your business processes

Proper documentation of your business processes is the key to ensuring continuity. The appropriate people need to understand your company’s standard business routines and requirements. Many managers make the mistake of thinking that as long as a few people in the organization know what needs to be done, there can’t be a problem. In the event of the unexpected, however, shared knowledge may not be enough.

When documenting each process, questions to ask include:

What are the typical steps involved in this process?
Which department and/or person is responsible for each step?
What are the tasks involved in each step?
What documents and databases need to be accessed for the transactions in each step to be completed successfully?
How much time should be allotted for the person who is responsible for this step to complete the relevant tasks?
Should anyone be notified when there is an exception to a standard process, or a step takes longer than the allotted time? If so, who?
If the person responsible for the step is unavailable, to whom should the step be automatically assigned?
Do any other contingency plans need to be made? If so, what are they?
After the tasks involved in a specified step have been completed, what happens next?
After a step has been completed, does it require approval, potential denial, a signature, or any other action by another person?
How are exceptions to the standard process supposed to be handled, and by whom?
How much time is considered acceptable for handling an exception case?
What are the standard steps involved in each exception scenario? Who needs to review the exception cases? How much time should be allotted?
At what point does a successfully handled exception case re-enter the standard workflow process?

Understanding every detail is vital so that your business can continue without interruption.

After all of these and other questions that are critical to your business have been answered, you have the information you need to write an action plan. By diagramming and documenting the details of each process, and then making sure that your data and documents are backed up and accessible, you ensure that business can continue 24/7—no matter what happens.

Developing and communicating your plan

Creating a ABCP is a time-consuming task, and it is almost worthless if the action plan is not tested, revised, communicated to everyone who needs it, and then tested again by everyone who will be involved in making it work. If you have an alternative site for short-term operations, the equipment you need, and access to customer and critical business databases but do not have access to the written ABCP, you will struggle to keep things moving smoothly. If you have access to everything including the ABCP, but it has not been tested by the current staff, there will be confusion when a document can not be found or a process comes to an unanticipated halt.

Are you able to continue your business with everyone working remotely? Perhaps it is worth trying this for a day. The potential decrease in business processed on that day may be worth it: you may discover weaknesses in your procedures and your plan, and can subsequently address them. You will gain confidence from knowing that your business can continue as usual if the unusual occurs.

Maintaining a automated business continuity plan

After a solid plan has been developed, it needs to be retested periodically, communicated to the appropriate members of staff, and kept up to date. Equipment, positions, and processes change; the documentation needs to reflect this. People change positions, and new people join companies; they need to know what to do in the event of a disaster. If the company has a corporate philosophy of commitment to business continuity and long-term success rather than just short-term existence, maintaining the plan should be a matter of scheduled maintenance similar to the periodic review and safeguarding of equipment. Analyze, document, review, test, communicate, and repeat… ad infinitum.

Maximizing the value of documented business processes: increasing business efficiency and facilitating compliance

If you have made the move toward electronic data storage but have not yet automated your standard business processes, documenting your standard procedures also opens the door for increasing your efficiency. When a continuity plan precedes a company’s move toward process automation, the primary tools are in place for mechanizing routine work.

Experience teaches us that one should only automate things that are already working smoothly, and process automation is no exception. Automation of a poorly conceived or inconsistently delivered set of processes only delivers bad processes faster. In contrast, after a process is streamlined and made to be consistent, doing more of the same work even faster becomes a realistic, desirable, and reachable goal. In a business environment where producing quality information and service quickly is imperative, digital storage of information and electronic automation of processes tied to the business-critical documents helps a company to compete effectively in the marketplace.

Today, powerful automation tools such as digital workflow let you automate routine and mundane procedures, decreasing turnaround time for decisions, and helping you to provide better and faster service. Staff is no longer condemned to the tedium of filing, searching, and chasing information. Work is processed more efficiently, allowing time and talents to be focused on growing the company and customer base as well as other meaningful pursuits.

When a company or one of its departments goes through the ABCP process, recording how each type of event or customer interaction should be handled, what is needed to accomplish this, and procedures for the exceptions to the rules, it has formalized its business expectations and communicated its intent. Automating the relevant tasks with digital workflow and using a mechanized business rules engine ensures that the right tasks are pushed efficiently and effectively to the right people at the right time. It also makes certain that all procedures are carried out consistently, regardless of who is involved. It guarantees that all businesses and customers are treated fairly, helping a company to show its intent to comply, and potentially protecting itself in the event of complaints—or even lawsuits.

Summary

Every good plan needs to have built-in flexibility and requires constant reevaluation, but the key is to have a thorough plan. Just as an exception to a standard process can work smoothly when the rules for the standard process are understood and communicated clearly, the ABCP process requires careful analysis and detailed communication. By documenting your objectives, needs, and processes, you may find that your workers perform their jobs with a new understanding and greater enthusiasm. In the event of a disaster or even an inconvenient interruption in normal business operations, “I didn’t know what to do” can be erased from your employees’ vocabulary.

Just dropping some “potential” knowledge on a Wednesday!

live.life.love

-jmm

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Why does a person need to learn perseverance?

When times get tough, what do you need to learn about perseverance? I have asked my self prayed many times on what I have to do. I was told very boldly to stick to my dreams of helping others reach theirs. Here is a post I found today that makes it all very clear so you can define your own goals.

A new definition

Perseverance is about pursuing a higher goal and developing an ability to deal with setbacks and failure on the way. Persevering is a combination of mindset and habit. Mechanically it’s about having the stamina to actually keep going and doing the right things. Mentally it’s about knowing where to go and how to deal with setbacks right. Perseverance alone will not make you successful, but without it you will never get anywhere, and with it you can go further than most people.

Persevering is about setting the right goal, having the right mindset and doing the right things habitually. Here is what I’ve seen help other people persevere and what has worked for me over and over.

Set a goal

Most people fail to persevere because they have no larger goal in life. Choose one because keeping going without knowing where to go obviously won’t work. Setting a larger goal, not for your startup or occupation, but in general, is where perseverance starts. It is the single most important thing to persevering – the larger the goal the smaller the challenges will seem on the way.

Most people struggle with this. Today you can do anything. There are no walls, there is no Cold War, our generation doesn’t need to rebuild the country, there is no hyper-inflation. You can do anything and still most people are paralyzed by the possibilities. Don’t waste your time – set a goal. If you lack inspiration, ‘putting a dent in the universe’ is a good starting point.

Once you have your goal in mind, just set a target that will get you closer and start walking. Stop constantly questioning the future and the alternatives. Just pick something and do it and, even if you’re wrong, chances are that on the way you’ll unearth very good alternatives. Better ones than if you had done nothing or something small. Quit stalling and start moving towards your goal.

When I was a teenager I desperately wanted to become a management consultant. In hindsight it turned out to be a dumb idea but I pursued it for a while and it got me closer to what I am doing now. As Patton said: “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

Persevere Mentally – Thinking Right

If you want to persevere you need a certain mindset and perspective on things to make it through the tough spots. Thinking “right” sometimes means thinking what no one else is thinking – the kind of thoughts that seem odd to other people or are obviously contrarian. Paul Graham describes this nicely in “What You Can’t Say”. Sometimes perseverance involves taking a stance that you might occupy on your own for awhile.

People that persevere expect obstacles and are also contrarian in the sense that they even love and seek them because overcoming them helps them grow. It’s an attitude towards challenges that equates to an opportunity that makes you better once you’ve dealt with it.

One of the inspiring quotes for me in this context is by Arnold Scharzenegger: “I hear this all the time. As a matter of fact, I love it when someone says that no one has ever done this before, because then when I do it that means that I’m the first one that has done it.”

In the face of what feels like extreme challenges (opportunities) you need an unshakeable foundation – self-confidence paired with an unquestioned belief that you will make it through anything. Importantly, self-confidence is a result of skill, not ego. Erich Fromm makes an amazing point in “To have or to be” when he states that ego is what most people groom their entire life; it’s what can be destroyed. Skill on the other hand can’t be taken away from you.

Be what people would call unrealistic. Optimism tends to be your realism. Understand that there are no rules and there is no impossible. Limits are what you impose on yourself – limits are the result of you accepting the status quo and what other people tell you. It is you giving in to the dictatorship of the mean. Realism will lead you to be average.

People that persevere don’t tend to care much about setbacks or dwell on them. They just tick them off their “to-do-list,” learn and move on. Setbacks barely even compute. It’s just the starting point and it’s within your power to master them. There literally are no crises – just minor bumps on the road that you learn from. If you want to persevere take ownership of everything. There is no fate or luck. You alone are fully responsible and you own up to and sort things out immediately. It doesn’t mean beating yourself up, it just means you can’t delegate responsibility to achieve or improve. You control everything – especially yourself. Mind over body. You shape your environment and not the other way round.

When things still get you down remind yourself that perspective changes everything. You think you have it hard? You think you’ve come far? You think 20m per year in income is rich? You think solving XYZ is amazing? You think losing your CTO and co-founder is stressful? The answer to all these questions is no. There is always bigger and better. You could always be off worse. Stop being a baby, stop stressing out and get on with things. Stress is real but it doesn’t mean there is a point to it.

Never be satisfied – it sometimes is a sad state of being, but it is necessary. It’s an innate understanding that what seemed like a challenge, a stretch, a couple of months ago is now not even worth celebrating in the grand scheme of things and in light of your next target. Self-gratification will rarely move you forward.

Persevere through execution – Doing the Right Things

Having the right mindset will lead you to do the right things. People that persevere have certain habits. They don’t buy into the idea of luck, faith or chance. “Getting lucky” is a result of knocking down every single door, trying everything, being at every event – that’s how you force “serendipity”. Never quit from your own accord.

Be a little reckless with what you do – we all start with having achieved nothing so you have nothing to lose. No matter what you think you have accumulated. In the end, it’s not about the accumulated, it’s about the process of accumulating. You want to push yourself beyond the limit, you want to constantly expand your comfort zone and have that feeling of being uncomfortable, because it’s only there that you get better.

Surround yourself with better more ambitious people. You’re the average of the people you spend most time with. If you’re a lion don’t hang out with cats.

Last but not least, it helps being boring by routinizing these mindsets and behaviors, as this will help you not waste energy on making them happen over and over again. Don’t even question whether you should do something outside of your comfort zone or if you should keep going. Jumping first and looking later typically worked for me.

Enjoy

Foster positivity every day. In the end that’s what really helps. I try to actively enjoy every single moment. Even the tough ones. Joy doesn’t equal happiness. Happiness is a high; joy is your baseline happiness even when things aren’t going well. And you can remind yourself of that, happiness anywhere.

live.life.love

-jmm

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