Discussion within your team is essential to help you consider many different scenarios to improve contingency plans. \u00a0This will allow you to be more responsive when issues arise, but also demonstrate the capabilities of your staff to respond to those issues in a consistent manner.\u00a0 Your goal is to think through the scenarios that will protect you from failure.<\/p>\n
Here are some common scenarios to consider:<\/p>\n
Fiscal \u2013 <\/strong>Running out of funding is not fun.\u00a0 Estimate your \u201cburn rate\u201d for normal services, but include likely scenarios where you may need additional funds.\u00a0 In particular, if additional funding is needed, how will the extra funds be secured?\u00a0 If there is a high probability of exceeding your budgets, you should clearly define the circumstances that need to be managed to minimize the potential budget threats.<\/p>\n Emergency Response \u2013 <\/strong>What will be done in case of a flood?\u00a0 How about a power outage?\u00a0 What if the sewage is not flowing?\u00a0 Emergencies don\u2019t have to be disasters if they are thought through and you have a plan to overcome them.<\/p>\n Personnel \u2013 <\/strong>Do you have coverage for key personnel if they were unavailable to work?\u00a0 Understanding your human resources and what can be done to cover for key staff is an important part of your plan.\u00a0 Considering today\u2019s budget shrinkage at many facilities, even if you only have to cover for vacations and sick days, you could be too light staffed to perform adequately.<\/p>\n