Category Business Management

Putting Together an Emergency Plan That’ll Prepare You for When Disaster Strikes

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

Back in April of 2020, Carla Lopez guested on my blog, writing Thriving After Your Small Business Closes, which gave some tips for dealing with the hard truths many small businesses experienced during the pandemic. Carla has returned with a new post about emergency planning with an eye on small businesses. My thanks to Carla for referencing EPS in her article! – TR

About Carla – Carla Lopez kept her entrepreneurial spirit even after retiring a couple years ago. She created Boomerbig.org for retirees who still desire to work and achieve – a site that offers business resources for people in their golden years.

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As per the news reports, it’s become more and more apparent that natural disasters are occurring more frequently than ever before, largely in part due to climate change. As such, one can never be too prepared if a natural disaster should happen to you and your family. Here are some tips from Emergency Preparedness Solutions on how to prepare for the worst.

Keep on top of the potential hazards that could occur in your area

Because natural disasters are so varied in nature, ranging from tornadoes to earthquakes to flooding, it makes sense, then, to keep on top of the potential hazards that are unique to your area.

Stock up your disaster kit

Make sure to stock up on a disaster supply kit that’s ready to go at all times. Basically, this kit should include the most essential items that will keep you going for at least a few days should things suddenly come to a complete standstill. Items that you should pack ahead of time in one or two backpacks should include important documents such as your identification documents, insurance policies, passports, medical records, etc. And be sure to pack them away in such a way that it is safe from water damage. Other essential items to think about include a pair of spare clothing, toiletries, chronic medication, extra cash, sleeping bags, a first aid kit, etc.

Plan your escape route

SafetyCulture points out that you should establish an evacuation plan for every eventuality or for what’s most applicable to your country’s most probable disaster. In it, you could include details pertaining to where you would find the most protection in your home in the case of a tornado, how to find your quickest route out of the home in the case of a fire, and alternative routes out of your town if you had to evacuate quickly and the main roads were no longer accessible.

Protect your business

Make sure to confirm with your insurers that your home business will also be covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy should your home be destroyed in a natural disaster. And if your current insurance policy isn’t designed to protect your business assets if you work from home, then be sure to find out what will be by getting a policy that’s specifically for your business. Or if you would prefer to group everything under a single policy, you could try to get an endorsement on your existing policy to include cover for your home office.

Stay in touch-always

In the case of a natural disaster occurring, you should establish multiple ways of staying in contact with your loved ones if the signal is down, such as making use of a central point of contact who can vouch for your whereabouts if your family or friends can get a hold of you and vice versa.

Make a plan for your beloved animals too

If you’re a pet lover, you wouldn’t dream of leaving your pets behind in the midst of grabbing your essentials and rushing out the door to safety. That’s why it is also important to plan what the safety steps would be for your pet, too.

Familiarize yourself with the processes

You should also ideally practice the steps covered in the plan beforehand so that when the time comes it is instinctual as opposed to chaotically looking for solutions, which can lead to catastrophic mistakes at a time when your mind has to be at its clearest.

In summary

You can never be too prepared for the unexpected when the unexpected is what we’ve come to expect. Therefore, having a well-thought-out plan in place that can help to prepare you for every outcome is a great place to start when you’re faced with a scary event that’s beyond your control.

Image via Pexels

Experience Bias

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager 4 Comments

I recently read an interesting piece in Psychology Today by Dr. Christopher Dwyer titled ‘How Experience Can Hinder Critical Thinking’. Do check it out. There is application to pretty much everything, but of course I tend to think of things in the context of emergency management.

The article starts with the age long argument of education vs experience, but with a particular slant toward critical thinking. My personal take is that the education vs experience argument, in its totality, can’t have a blanket resolution. I think a lot of it is dependent on the topic at hand, and obviously it’s rarely a dichotomy, rather a blending of education and experience is often best. In regard to education, certainly the actual education received holds value, but there are tasks intrinsic to academia which also hold value, perhaps even more than what was learned in the classroom; the rigors of research in an academic environment often being most valuable among them. With that, in many regards, we often see employment announcements with a range of degree majors, or just simply a stated minimum of education, regardless of major. This is in recognition of the intrinsic value of education. And while some professions absolutely require a specific degree, those which don’t, can and should hold less rigidly to those requirements.

While I certainly advocate a minimum extent of education for most positions, I’ve also worked with a considerable number of people with a high school diploma or associate’s degree that can intellectually run circles around those with advanced degrees, at least in certain applications of work and life. Experience is often indicative of exposure to certain situations, often with repetition. The comparing and contrasting of those experiences with what is being experienced in the moment is what supports the argument for the value of experience. It’s also why many advanced degree programs actually require some term of actual work experience before they will accept applicants into their programs. Consider academic programs such as criminal justice. Sure, there are a lot of philosophical topics that are taught, but any courses that speak to practical application should probably be taught by those with actual experience doing those things. Though Dr. Dwyer gives wise advice, stating that we shouldn’t confuse experience with expertise.

All that said, Dr. Dwyer’s article focuses on the application of critical thinking in this argument. He cites some insightful data and studies, but most interesting to me is his mention of experience being personalized. While several people may have ‘been there, done that, got the t-shirt’, they each may have experienced the event differently or left with different impressions, even if exposed to some of the same situations. We all bring a bias with us, and this bias in the lens through which we view the events of our lives. That bias is then influenced by our perception of each event, fundamentally snowballing and compounding with the more experiences we have. This shows how our experiences can bias our own critical thinking skills. Dr. Dwyer states that critical thinking stemming from someone with more education than experience is likely to be more objective and based on knowledge, which certainly makes sense. That said, individuals basing their critical thinking solely on education may miss insight provided experiences, which can provide considerable context to the thought exercise.

I think the conclusion to be drawn in all this is that critical thinking, in most regards, is optimized by those with a blend of education and experience. It’s also extremely important for us to recognize our own limitations and biases when we approach a decision or other relevant situation. Specific to emergency management, we can leverage a lot from our experiences, but we also know that no two incidents are the same. Therefore, while our experiences can support us in a new event, they can also derail us if not applied thoughtfully and in recognition of our own biases.

This all comes around to my advocacy for emergency management broadly, and incident management in particular, being team sports. Even the first step of the CPG 101 planning process is to form a planning team. We each bring different approaches and perspectives. We also need to advocate for diversity in our teams, regardless of what tasks those teams are charged with. This should be diversity in the broadest sense – diversity of experience, diversity of discipline, diversity in education, diversity in gender, diversity in race, creed, culture, etc. The broader the better. We must do better opening ourselves to the perspectives of others. We all have bias – every one of us. Some bias, obviously depending on the focus, is OK, but it is best for us to balance our individual bias with those of a diverse group. A diverse team approach will bring us better results time and again.

How does experience bias impact you?

© 2021 Timothy Riecker, CEDP

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC®

Thriving After Your Small Business Closes

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager 1 Comment

I’m thrilled to welcome a guest writer to my blog! This article addresses an important part of disaster recovery – economic recovery – which is something we will be hearing about for a long time. We’re seeing many people becoming unemployed and small businesses closing as a result of the pandemic.

This article is written by Carla Lopez. Carla retired a couple years ago, but she didn’t lose her entrepreneurial spirit. She created Boomer Biz for retirees like herself who still have a desire to work and achieve. The site is a resource for people in their golden years who want to start their own business or go back to work doing what they love. You can reach Carla at carla.lopez@boomerbiz.org.

(Please note that by posting this article we aren’t endorsing any products or services, nor do we make any commitments on the accuracy or representation of the subject matter.)

Thriving After Your Small Business Closes

Failure is a common step on the road to success, but that doesn’t make it an easy one. You start your small business knowing all the facts and statistics, well aware that many businesses fail in their first few years. Yet it’s natural to think, deep down, that you will be the exception. If things do go wrong, picking up the pieces can be a serious challenge.

Here are a few tips for moving past a failed venture and embracing your next great idea:

Let Yourself Grieve

A common mistake people make in the face of failure is avoidance. It can be tempting to try and pretend nothing bad has happened, but facing reality is more productive. After all, something bad did happen. Ignoring that doesn’t take it away, or make it any better.

Facing it and grieving, however, can have a number of positive effects. It will make it less painful over time, allowing you to process and move on from the experience. Remember that a major benefit of making mistakes is developing the ability to recognize them. Just as Lifehacker explains, grief is a valuable part of improvement.

Evaluate Your Finances

Once you’ve had a chance to process some of the pain, resolve to figure out your new financial situation. Money is, naturally, one of the most stressful parts of a business not working out. Do not let anxiety keep you from understanding your own means. After all, you have to know where you are to figure out where you’re going.

Look over your financial records and see if there’s anything you can learn from them. You might even consider hiring a small business or sales/marketing consultant who can help you identify any subtle mistakes you may have made along the way. This type of reflection will give you a firm foundation for your next big project. You can find talented consultants through freelancing websites like Upwork. Just select your desired work category and browse through qualified candidates.

Brainstorm Daily

Some people are full of new ideas when one venture falls through, while others are creatively blocked. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, daily brainstorming will help generate and clarify a path forward.

Set aside 10 or 15 minutes a day to jot down notes or put an app to work. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, since the goal is consistency, not daily brilliance. Building regular brainstorming into your schedule will train your mind to consider bigger and better possibilities.

Consider Your Options

Don’t let your first project define your next. Unfortunately, many business owners box themselves in. Though it’s good to foster expertise and know your niche, overdoing it can be limiting. Try to find ways to look at your ideas laterally, and recognize opportunities to take a more innovative approach.

For example, Business News Daily points out that there’s a world of opportunity in the e-commerce market. If you’re not already familiar with running a business online, there are plenty of resources available. Online wikis can help you understand the ins and outs of marketing, resource management, growth hacking, and more.

Start Planning

When you do find the idea that excites and motivates you, make the most of that excitement and start planning. There’s nothing like that initial spark. It’s important to capitalize on that energy and keep your thoughts moving forward.

One way you can take advantage of this momentum is to write your mission statement and craft an elevator pitch. These are valuable marketing tools, but more importantly, the act of working on them will help you understand your ideas even better.

Closing your small business can be a heartbreaking process, but there’s a serious value in it. Don’t let your pain hold you back from a prosperous future. By picking up the pieces and moving forward, you can dive into your next venture with the wisdom and grace that breeds success. 

Photo Credit: Pexels

Public-Private Partnerships Should be a Two-Way Relationship

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

Public-private partnerships are not a new concept to emergency management.  There are municipalities, regional areas, and states that have formed committees and strategized how the private sector can provide support during a disaster.  Certainly we have seen a lot of support, on both a large scale and locally, from the ‘big box’ stores, such as Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot.  Tide’s Loads of Hope program, something so simple but extraordinarily impactful, provides a means for disaster victims to have clean clothing.  Insurance companies have established a response capability to expedite their assessments and services to their clients.  Private sector partners know that these things are not just good public relations, but that they have a means of supporting communities that government and relief organizations may not.

There is another aspect to public-private partnerships that doesn’t seem to be widely addressed, and that’s the community business.  How can they help the community in a disaster?  First, business continuity is essential, since they may also be impacted by the disaster.  Small businesses don’t have the level of capability to leverage that large companies do.  Yes, the SBA can help them with long-term recovery, but the ability of some small businesses to get back to operations quickly can directly help a community recover.  I work with a lot of small communities, many of them serviced by small shops and independent grocers.  There are no big box stores for many, many miles.  For grocers, power outages result in spoiled food.  Road closures result in crippling supply chain problems.  While we’d like all businesses to have mitigation measures and preparedness for disasters, many small businesses simply don’t have the capitol to invest in things like generators and they obviously can’t control road closures.

What’s to be done?  Local municipalities absolutely need to bring these small business owners to the table, establish relationships, identify their needs, and consider identifying them as part of the community’s critical infrastructure.  The resilience of small grocers, lumber companies, and other purveyors is essential to the resilience and recovery of so many small towns.  The impacts are easy to see… if a store can keep running, they are not only providing essential goods and services to the community, they are also supporting the economy by keeping their employees working. What do they need?  Things like power and access, obviously, but tangential things like the availability of child care is huge.  Following disasters schools usually close and often become community shelters. Many parents work when their kids are in school.  If school is closed, they need access to child care.

How far can government go in supporting the private sector?  Many governments tend to avoid supporting the private sector as if it were some kind of disease.  It took many months to convince FEMA in the aftermath of Sandy to make dredging of private marinas eligible for disaster cost recovery.  These marinas (mostly small businesses themselves) support capabilities of fire and police watercraft, recreation (which has economic impact), and a significant fishing and crabbing industry, which is the livelihood of many off and on shore.  Obviously, FEMA needs to maintain accountability of funds and ensure they are being spent appropriately, but a big part of this was resistance to the idea of government providing direct support to the private sector.

While I agree that there are many nuances to this situation, it seems that in many cases the impact of small, local businesses in short-term recovery are disregarded, especially by state and federal governments, and that there exists a one-way door for business participation, where in this ‘partnership’ they are asked to provide goods and services, but how is government contributing to that partnership?  With the big box stores and other large companies, local governments certainly help with some permit expediting and perhaps physical space to set up and access to utilities, there is typically not much support required beyond that.  Small businesses may need more direct support to recover.  They may need help clearing their private access road or parking lot.  They may need the public road they are located on to be cleared for traffic sooner.  They may need a generator that can power their building.  They may need quantities of potable water brought on-site.  Their employees may need child care or public transportation.  These are things they either can’t immediately afford or simply don’t have access to. Local government may have better access to these resources, though, and with the justification of these small businesses providing essential goods and services to the community, the choice is easy.

Does this open government to potential criticism?  Absolutely.  Some business owners may claim discriminatory practices of government supporting some businesses and not others.  Some tax payers may even complain about the use of tax dollars in such a fashion.  While people may always complain, legal consequences and public relations problems should certainly be mitigated.  The road to addressing this is preparedness.  Engage your local attorney and the legal council for the state’s emergency management agency.  Municipal laws and state laws regarding authorities that can be enacted during a state of emergency need to be explored to not only make sure that local government has the legal ability to provide this support, but the conditions and procedures required for doing so.  The legal sources and procedures and standards for providing this support should be documented and made part of the local emergency plan. The municipality should have a criteria for determining what types of businesses could be included in such direct support (what is regarded as the municipality’s privately owned critical infrastructure?), and even outline requirements for those businesses, such as having a business continuity plan, implementing certain resiliency measures, or participating in coordination activities prior to a disaster.  Memoranda of understanding may be required, or other legal tools to identify the terms and conditions of support.

While this type of support from government to the private sector isn’t common, there are some municipalities who do it well.  I’m certainly interested in hearing what you’ve implemented and what best practices you’ve identified.

© 2020 Timothy Riecker, CEDP

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC®℠

Is New Media Really Journalism?

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager 2 Comments

This is a concept I’ve been struggling with for a while.  I see bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers portray themselves as journalists quite often.  But are they?

The more traditional part of me wants to laugh at their pipe dream, considering that newspapers, TV and radio, and magazines fit into the definition of media and journalism that I’ve had most of my life.  But times, they are a changin’.  The term ‘new media’ isn’t new anymore.  Bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers, as a whole, are mainstream and it appears they are here to stay.

While I’ve seen this on occasion in governmental and emergency management media relations, I see this most often in another facet of my life – pop culture.  Along with being a blogger on emergency management and homeland security matters, I’m also a co-host on several pop-culture and entertainment related podcasts.  Looking at things like fan conventions (think ComicCon and similar events), dozens and even hundreds of media badges are given to bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers.  While some media credentials go to more traditional media outlets, the proportion is rather staggering.  In entertainment and pop culture this makes sense to a great extent.  Many who pay heed to pop culture also seem likely to consume blogs, podcasts, and YouTube content.  It’s also not necessarily location-bound (i.e. following a new media provider because they are local to you and report on local things – although some do).  The free media badges given out by convention organizers turns into free promotion of the goings-on of their events – so it makes sense, but what are the limits?  The sheer number of people applying for media badges for these events is staggering, and many are denied.

Why is new media so popular?  On the provider end, the barriers to entry are insanely low.  Generally, you need a computer, an internet connection, and an account to whatever portal you want to push your content through.  There are a few other resources needed depending on the actual medium, such as cameras and microphones, editing software, etc., but good quality in all of these can be found at very reasonable prices.  You can also go really lean and do it all from your smart phone.  Certainly there are the intangibles such as talent, good ideas, and persistence, which all tends to cull the herd.

On the consumer end, people crave new media content to read, hear, or see more about the things that entertain and interest them.  Despite things said about people’s attention spans, most blogs I read (as well as my own) have a reasonable length to them.  Most podcasts run 30-90 minutes.  YouTube videos tend to be shorter, but obviously tend to have a higher production value.  There is also a huge variety of new media available, with differing opinions and formats, and generally something for everyone.

But the question still remains, is new media actually journalism?  Obviously, I haven’t missed the irony in this.  Despite having and maintaining a blog for several years as well as my involvement in podcasts, I don’t consider myself a journalist.  At best, I’m an op-ed writer on the blogging side; and whatever the equivalent is on the podcasting side.  I appreciate that people value the content and opinions I put out there, but I’m no Walter Cronkite (really who is, but Walter himself?).

At the risk of taking heavy fire from my fellow bloggers and podcasters, I’m reluctant to broadly categorize much of new media as journalism.  It just seems there needs to be something that qualifies you to use the title.  I’m not saying a certification or anything bureaucratic like that, but honestly I don’t know what it should be.  When any person on any given day with little investment can suddenly announce that they are a journalist (or honestly anything), that tends to not sit well with me.  There needs to be a demonstration of commitment and professionalism.

There are some bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers that I would consider journalists because of their longevity, their professionalism, and their following, but these are few.  I think most new media folks are entertainers.  Some are informers, yet still not journalists.  But there are some that are journalists, and they should be respected as such.

On the event management side of this (both in regard to pop culture as well as emergency management), where does the paradigm sit and does it need to change? How do you determine who you will give a media badge to?  In emergency management and government as a whole, it’s long been a best practice to maintain positive relationships with media outlets.  What kind of relationships, if any, are you maintaining with bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers?  Do you need to?

I’m interested in thoughts and opinions on this – from everyone.  Are you a producer of new media – Do you consider yourself a journalist?  Are you a traditional journalist – what’s your take on this?  On the government and emergency management side – are you involved in media relations, and if so, what are your ideas?  Are you not involved in either, but have an opinion?  Please share it!

© 2017 – Timothy Riecker, CEDP

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC

 

When in Doubt, Speak from Experience

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

Last week I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at a conference on incident management. This two-conference covered a variety of topics ranging from preparedness, response, and recovery; and while there was a lot of discussion on mass shootings, the conference covered all hazards.  There were a number of great presenters providing interesting insight and information.  Of course one of the most interesting and effective ways of learning, in public safety and other industries, is through lessons learned of actual incidents and events.  We had some detailed reviews of various incidents, including the Dallas shooting, the Aurora theater shooting, and the San Bernardino shooting.  These had extraordinary detail and discussion, driven by presenters who worked those incidents.

There was one presenter, however, who enjoyed telling stories of incidents which he had no involvement in.  Generally, most people who do such a thing have the common sense of keeping it to brief illustrative points based on specific factual information.  If someone is taking a scholarly approach, we would see more detail, but based upon their research and interviews.  This particular presenter, we’ll call him Bart (name changed), took neither approach.  He was a retired Sherriff’s deputy from a county in California.  He clearly had enough credentials to get himself invited to things, but if this was his general pattern of presenting, I’m guessing he rarely gets invited back.

Aside from his presentations not at all addressing the topic, he liked to tell stories, speaking at length about incidents and locations he has never been involved in.  He even admitted to not having any involvement, and instead citing ‘something he read’ as his source.  This would be sketchy on the surface, but it was even more frustrating when he told stories of NYC 9/11 and recent events in the National Capital Region with myself and a colleague seated at the front table… myself having worked a variety of aspects of 9/11 and my colleague who presently works in the National Capital Region.

Bart presented twice, once the first day, and again on the second day.  While we casted a couple of corrections his way on the first day, we were mostly shocked that he would venture into such territory, providing information that was at best 80% fact.  During his presentation the second morning, we were much less forgiving.  His continued anecdotes about these areas and incidents were relentless, and his lack of facts in the telling of these stories was simply unprofessional.  We called him out on it several times and it was clear from body language and general lack of interest that the room fully understood what was going on.

My general rule of thumb is to speak from experience.  Don’t tell someone else’s story.  That’s not to say you can’t speak about an incident or event you weren’t involved in, just make sure you stick to the facts and be respectful that you have ventured into someone else’s territory.  If you were involved in an incident, you may be inclined to be a bit more casual about your manner because you lived it, but if you weren’t at the incident, keep it formal, cite your fact, associate it with your point, and move on.  Don’t be Bart.

Needless to say, I had several conversations with the conference organizer, who had no prior experience with Bart and was rather appalled at his presentations.

When in doubt, speak from experience.  Don’t be Bart.

© 2017 – Timothy Riecker, CEDP

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC

An Open Letter to LinkedIn Discussion Group Moderators

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager 2 Comments

For those of you tuning in for your (somewhat) regular fix on emergency management and homeland security commentary, I apologize for this quick detour.  I encourage you, however, to read on and provide your thoughts and feedback on a matter which relates to how you are able to view my posts.  There are a few inconvenient practices out there which I feel a need to address.

While I have a humbling and ever growing number of people who follow my blog directly at www.triecker.wordpress.com, many read my posts through a variety of LinkedIn discussion groups.  Some of these groups were created and simply exist publicly, while others are members-only and diligently maintained by moderators who do great work to keep certain posts out of their group, such as those that are largely irrelevant and those which blatantly serve no other purpose than to market products and services.  As a member of several of these discussion groups, I am greatly appreciative of the time and effort these moderators put in.  I do, however, have some important feedback.

As I have been blogging for a few years now and cross posting to several LinkedIn discussion groups, I’ve encountered some practices with moderators with which I disagree.  Most recently, a discussion thread which originated from one of my blog posts was, inexplicably, shut down and closed to further comment.  The discussion in the thread was lively, with several people contributing to an excellent dialogue.  There didn’t appear to be any nastiness or inappropriate behavior, and all comments were on topic.  The thread was shut down with no notice, publicly or privately.  I’m not aware of there being any automatic limits on replies, but if there are, I don’t see a reason why.  This was an unfortunate occurrence which limited productive dialogue of your members.

Second, there are several of these groups that have an anti-spam feature.  On the surface, this is excellent!  In practice, especially for someone who appreciates active dialogue with those who comment, it’s a royal pain in the ass.  Essentially, after I reach some magic number of replies within a discussion thread, my replies will then go off into the ether, awaiting approval by the moderators before they are posted.  This process severely stalls great dialogue.

Lastly, many of these groups have certain rules which disallow posts which include blatant marketing content.  This is a great rule, as many of us have received notice from open groups with posts which are 100% pure marketing – which is not a reason why most people join these groups.  That said, these rules have been applied a bit too strictly and without common sense.  I’ve had moderators contact me (and some who don’t), refusing to post an article, simply because I include the name of my company and a link to our webpage at the bottom of my blog.  I’ve had others refuse to post an article because I include a sentence or two at the end of my blog about the services my company provides.  Allow me to make a few points with this… 1) The vast majority of my blogs run from 500-800 words.  The inclusion of my company name/web address, or a sentence or two at the end of that post related to the services my company provides does not make my post an advertisement.  I’d like to think there is still plenty of intellectual value to what I’m writing about.  2) This is LinkedIn.  It’s a social media platform for professionals.  That means that a certain amount of professional promotion should be expected.  3) Having given plenty of presentations for trade shows and membership groups, their guidelines regularly allow the ‘soft sell’, which means that while the bulk of your presentation is not directly about marketing your business, they usually allow a minute or two at the end to mention what your company does.  This is a pretty fair courtesy which I think is quite reasonable for discussion groups to apply.

Final words – Moderators, I greatly appreciate the time you put in and what you do.  Seriously.  You help keep a lot of crap and spam away from our inboxes and notifications.  I implore you, however, to remember what the intent of LinkedIn is, and with that in mind apply the rules of your discussion groups to maximize dialogue for the benefit of your members.

  • Thank you.

<no marketing message posted here>

Timothy Riecker, CEDP

Emergency Managers Need to be More Like Engineers and Less Like Shopkeepers

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

I was inspired by this short (~1 minute) video from TrainingJournal.com.  In the presenter’s brief but pointed message, he describes many trainers as being akin to shopkeepers, providing organizations often times with rote solutions just as a shopkeeper will pull a product off their shelves. He goes on to say that this these solutions are usually effective, but only for a limited duration.  He offers, instead, that trainers need to be more like engineers, examining every facet of a problem and constructing lasting solutions.  As an experienced trainer and proponent of a detailed root cause analysis, I couldn’t agree more, but as I readied myself to write a post about the implications of this on training, my mind carried this metaphor to many of our practices in emergency management.

Consider how often we quickly dismiss identified gaps with an assumed solution.  Write a plan, conduct a training, install a bigger culvert.  Those are usually our solutions to an identified problem.  Are they wrong?  No – we’re correct more often than not.  Are these lasting solutions?  Rarely!  How often does the problem rear its head again within a relatively short span of time?  How do we address the re-occurrence?  As shop keepers we simply pull another solution off the shelf.  Can we do better?

The things we do in emergency management are often based upon best and current practices.  We address problems through the prevalent way of dealing with such things industry-wide.  Emergency management has a great community of practice.  I’ve mentioned in several previous blog posts the spirit of sharing we have and the benefits we see come of that.  It doesn’t seem often, though, that we engage in an industry-wide groupthink to solve various problems.  We use and adapt ideas of individuals and small groups, we see a steady and determined progression of the practices within our progression, but we rarely see ‘game changing’ ideas that revolutionize how prevent, prepare for, respond to, or recover from disasters.  Why is this?

Perhaps we need a greater collective voice locally, where practitioners are dealing with the problems directly?  Our methods of practice in emergency management are generally driven by the federal government (THIRA, NIMS, HSEEP, etc.).  I’m not saying any of these are bad – in fact they are excellent standards that we need to continue to refine and apply, but it’s generally not the federal government that is dealing directly with the constant flow of issues being dealt with at a state, and even more so, a local level.  We need to follow that metaphor of being engineers to apply more permanent solutions to these problems.  We need to create, innovate, and problem solve. Or do we?

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.  We often miss the necessity of improving because we have current, functional solutions – we have things that work.  So why fix it if it’s not broken?  I say we can do better.  The realization of the need for lasting solutions is the necessity we need.  If the solutions we have on the shelf don’t work for us 100%, let’s figure out a better way.

I don’t know what or how, but I’m sure that as a community we can identify needs and prioritize what must be addressed.  Given the right people, time, and maybe a bit of money, we can be innovative and effect some lasting change.

I’d love to hear what others think on this topic.

© 2015 – Timothy Riecker

Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC

www.epsllc.biz

Deliberate Planning – Strategic Planning and Business Continuity

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

Many organizations put forth extraordinary effort to develop strategic plans to give concerted organization-wide direction to the organization for the coming 3-5 years.  Like many of my readers, I have been part of several strategic planning efforts in different organizations, sometimes helping to lead the way.  There is a great deal of value to strategic planning as it helps not only refine the organization’s vision, but also develops objectives to help it get there while (ideally) bringing the entire organization on board – from finance, to HR, to operations, and facilities – everyone is facing in the same direction and striving to accomplish the same goals.  Just as strategic planning should not be performed in a vacuum, business continuity planning should not either.  Just as strategic planning engaged the whole organization, as should business continuity planning.

If the efforts of strategic planning and business continuity planning have such foundational similarities, why not bring the two together?  As the goals of these two efforts are distinctly different we certainly can’t merge the efforts, but the overlaps provide for easily exploitable opportunities within the organization.  How?

First, make business continuity and resilience a goal of your strategic plan.  What does this do for the organization?  Just like the other goals identified in strategic planning, it provides a documented leadership-driven purpose which will engage the whole organization.  Every business unit in an organization has a stake in business continuity.  Just with other goals within your strategic plan, the specific actions will be identified through objectives – be it a start to your business continuity program or a continuation and improvement thereof.  As mentioned in previous posts, business owners and managers put forth a great deal of effort to build and expand their businesses, but we also need plans to stay in business in the event of a disaster.

Second, once the strategic plan is completed, you now have a group of people from across the organization who now hopefully work well together – engage them!  Turn your strategic planning committee into your business continuity committee.  Good strategic planning provides for someone (ideally the planning group) to monitor the implementation of the strategic plan.  This takes minimal time compared to developing the strategic plan, allowing for this group – who has already worked together for some time and has gone through the group dynamics of forming, storming, norming, and performing – to focus on another task.  Why pull together another group of different people?  It’s a waste of time and the team will lag in performance.  Simply reengage them and change their focus.  This group is a great asset who has already proven they can represent their business units while still having an organization-wide perspective.

Third, mine data from the strategic planning process to support business continuity.  A thorough strategic planning process has examined the organization from many angles and perspective – particularly through a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats).  While a SWOT analysis is performed from a business standpoint, much of the data obtained and derived from this analysis can inform both your hazard analysis and the identification of mission essential functions – these are the things which you MUST DO to stay in business and to minimize the greatest losses.

Lastly, continue the relationship between strategic planning and business continuity.  Both work in a cycle of continuous improvement and those cycles obviously intersect – not just at one point but potentially at multiple junctures; an important consideration of a business continuity program is the impact which disasters may have not only on current business operations but also on planned business initiatives.  This shared knowledge and insight between two planning efforts conducted within one group is invaluable.  As strategic planning continues, new objectives for the business continuity program should be included while resiliency opportunities identified through the business continuity program should inform the strategic plan helping the organization overall to become more resilient and sustainable.

What are your thoughts on the synergy between strategic planning and business continuity?  What other opportunities do you see?

As always, if you need help starting, growing, or rebuilding your business continuity or emergency management program, Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC can help.  Contact us through www.epsllc.biz or directly at consultants@epsllc.biz.

© 2014 – Timothy Riecker

Business Continuity in the Food Service Industry

Tim Riecker, The Contrarian Emergency Manager Leave a comment

Last year I had the pleasure of working with a number of folks in the food service industry on business continuity.  Just like any industry, they have some very specific mission essential functions which must be maintained or minimally disrupted in the event of a disaster. 

If you’ve watched Bar Rescue or other similar shows (or eaten in a restaurant) you should know that sanitation is a critical issue in the food service industry.  Sanitation is the aspect of food service which is most heavily inspected (not as often as it should be in my opinion) and cited.  It is a critical component of regulation in the food service industry (usually done by local health departments) and failure to comply with sanitation can, will, and should result in being shut down.  Operating in a disaster environment is no exception to this – particularly when people are more susceptible and more exposed to food borne illness during disasters.  Part of sanitation, by the way, also includes the control of vermin. 

In my discussions with food service folks on business continuity, sanitation is the primary mission essential function they must maintain.  Others on the list include receiving and storage (at appropriate temperatures) of food goods and preparation of food (to proper temperatures and maintaining those temperatures until food is served). 

As restaurants examine their hazards they need to know what impacts hazards can have on their operations.  Certainly a loss of power can inhibit their ability to store and prepare food – but does it make it impossible to do so?  Maybe.  Dry ice can help regulate cold storage, but must be carefully monitored.  Food preparation is often done with natural gas or propane stoves, so power may not necessarily be required.  Even refrigeration can be outfitted to be powered by propane or natural gas.  That’s how food trucks and carts do it. 

Other considerations during a disaster are the ability of employees, customers, and suppliers to access your location.  You may have to operate with minimal staff as some of your staff could have been impacted by the disaster.  Assuming access is viable and that you can safety store and prepare food, it is possible for you to make money or at least minimize losses, even with a smaller menu, since those impacted by a disaster may not be able to make their own food and responders and relief workers will be happy to sit down and enjoy a warm meal. 

The best way to minimize your losses during a disaster is to have a business continuity plan.  If you need help building one, call Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC.  Reach us at consultants@epsllc.biz or www.epsllc.biz.