How do you know your disaster plan will work until the disaster actually strikes? Ken Wisnefski, president of VendorSeek, suggests that practice makes perfect. Experience is the best teacher. Conduct “rehearsals” of possible disasters when possible. Make sure your plans are current, viable, and that all elements involved work. You can never be too prepared, and a problem can occur at anytime. Concerns will wan as time goes by without issues arising, so regularly rehearse and test all prevention plans.
Planning for a problem does not make you a pessimist - it makes you a realist. Unfortunate circumstances occur, but being prepared for them ensures that the least amount of negativity will come from it.
But make sure that your practice scenario matches reality, and that you're willing to learn from your rehearsal. A striking chapter in Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink tells how the US Defense Department prepared for possible invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan by staging wargames. A retired Vietnam War commander leading the "enemy" forces actually won the first time. Unfortunately, the Defense Department changed the rules and played the game again until they won. I'm not sure they had that luxury, and experience suggests that they didn't. Neither do you.
Did you miss the first parts of Ken Wisnefski's advice for call center contingency planning? Or Greg Brashier's series on hosted PBX systems? You won't miss a single post if you subscribe to my feed for free insights into the world of the call center. Join the 254 people who already have.
Comment Preview