Try as we might to plan for the unexpected, it is doubtful that any organisation planned for the epidemic we are all experiencing today. COVID-19 is taking over daily life for people and businesses around the world. Its full impact is not yet known, nor do we know how long it will take to overcome the health and safety challenges it poses to our communities.
It’s a prime example of how an unexpected event can upend business continuity. There’s no standard way to prepare for such events. But in times like these, it’s essential to have a framework in place to face the unexpected. Here at TTEC, we focus on a set of 7 resiliency principles to guide our clients and us through unique challenges as they arise.
To minimise disruption, prioritise:
Preparedness: Developed protocols, communication strategies, and business continuity plans that can be implemented at a moment’s notice.
Redundancy: Enable our agile delivery model to quickly shift work from one site to another with minimal interruption via alternate site operations, program re-routing, and work-from-home options.
Diversity: Coordinate operations in our customer engagement centres onshore and around the world to operate in the most effective geographies.
Modularity: Implement technology such as cloud, automation and remote VPN to maintain operations and systems remotely rather than on-premise if needed.
Adaptability: Be flexible in people, process and technology to pivot decision-making and operations quickly.
Competence: Gather the right experts across IT, operations, communications, finance, human capital and other departments to work together to find solutions and overcome challenges.
Connectedness: Align people and functions across the business in a decentralised, nimble network that optimises resources and reduces any information sharing delay.
To be as proactive as possible, you must enable a cross-functional executive task force focused on just-in-case scenario planning. At TTEC, we collaborate, share ideas and examine every issue with multiple lenses across the organisation from legal, operations, human capital, sales and marketing, among others. Every group contributes its perspective on how any actions may impact our three top priorities: our employees, our customers and our community. When a crisis hits, it’s all-hands-on-deck, and that’s the way it should be for every organisation.
In times of uncertainty, namely COVID-19, keeping to business-as-usual is a challenge. And each business has its own unique culture and way of doing business. Yet with a focus on the wellbeing of employees and customers and guidance from principles like these, we believe resilience is possible. Ultimately, these values influence not only how organisations can survive a crisis like COVID-19, but how it thrives in its aftermath.
Visit our microsite at http://www.ttec.com/asiapacific/coronavirus to read more about TTEC’s Crisis Management business continuity solution and client case studies.