Inclement Weather Plan

The blizzard that smashed into Des Moines on December 9th, 2009 kept most of the city at home for a day or two. Schools let out early or cancelled, and many businesses closed down. For many businesses that means they’ll be paying employees for that time without seeing any productivity for those lost hours. This is unfortunate, because business doesn’t stop just because the weather is awful. Costs still accrue and work still needs to be done. This is why having a quality, reliable inclement weather plan in place is essential.

Allowing employees to work remotely from home is one important aspect of an inclement weather plan. However, remote work is something that can be difficult to set up, so going through an “inclement weather drill” during optimal conditions is the best option. Training employees how to access email, important files, and other important resources before the situation arises is best. Determining how to allocate resources like laptops, mobile phones, and other equipment is best done before the storm hits.

Aside from remote work – a proper notification procedure is another important aspect of an inclement weather plan. How are employees notified of office closure? An email from the boss in the morning? A calling tree? A notification on your website? Nothing is more aggravating for an employee than hearing about school and office closures on the morning news, but being unable to contact management to find out business status. To prevent this, set up a system beforehand and then stick to that system.

Once the remote work and notification procedures are sorted, the last item in any inclement weather plan is good disaster recovery preparation. If a tornado hits your office – is your data backed up offsite? If you can’t get into your office because of a blizzard will your data be alright if no one switches the backup hard drives? What about a fire? How long will it take you to get back up and running again? If your business doesn’t have a plan in place to address these issues, it should be created as soon as possible.

Half of dealing with inclement weather happens long before the storm hits, with the planning stages. The other half, obviously, is the execution, but with drills, planning, and some forethought, lost hours can be minimized and business can continue as close to usual as possible until the storm blows over.