5 Ways To Stay Prepared This Summer

It’s officially Summer! With summer comes vacation and relaxation, and work tends to slow down a bit. We are all excited to enter this new season, especially with things opening back up, but we shouldn’t veer too far away from reality. Remember just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean incidents are on your same schedule. Now is the time, during these “slower” months, to really stay on top of your business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

Here are 5 ways you can better prepare this summer:

Ensure Your Hurricane Plan is Ready to Go
This may be a little late in the game, as hurricane season began June 1. But better late than never. If your organization has locations in hurricane prone zones you WILL need a business continuity plan. If you already have a plan, review and exercise that plan to confirm your team knows exactly what to do in the event of a hurricane. This will give your executives peace of mind and ensure your organization continues running with little disruption. Business continuity software can also help streamline your program, to ensure your data is accurate and easy to access from any location. If you need help setting up a hurricane plan for your organization, I can certainly point you in the right direction, our advisory team is an excellent starting point.

Prepare for More Employee Vacations
Now that things are opening back up, people are excited to get out of the house and take time off. In fact, domestic travel is expected to be busier than ever this summer. Make sure if you take two weeks off to drive to the Grand Canyon, someone is covering for you should an incident occur. And space out vacations. Don’t allow your entire disaster recovery team to take off the same week in August.

Strategize for a Realistic Office Reopening
I’ve heard many companies are reopening their offices in the fall. Use these summer months to ensure you have a great back-to-the-office plan. Set realistic expectations that don’t overwhelm employees. Remember if your office has been fully closed this entire time, they have been working from the comfort of their homes the past 17 months. Maybe ease up on the corporate dress code and have employees come back two days a week to start. Also keep in mind your employees with children. Childcare situations may be different than they were pre-COVID, some daycares might have closed, and schedules may have changed. The important thing to keep in mind is to stay flexible and be understanding when it comes to employees.

Plan for Hotter Than Average Weather
This summer is expected to be hotter than normal. Depending on your office locations, if you’re located in a drought ridden area or somewhere that isn’t normally as hot, there might be extra precautions needed. Make sure you test your A/C units before bringing employees back into the office (it doesn’t hurt to test yours at home too). Additional Tip: Drought can be a contributing factor to wildfires, so having a wildfire plan in place is a great idea, especially if you have offices located in the western states.

Always Wear Sunscreen
Need I say more. (As a side note: Anyone else remember that random 1997 song Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)?) This advice will always be relevant and always worth reiterating.

I hope these tips help you as you continue to plan and prepare throughout the summer. As a friendly reminder, our team is always here to assist you with exercising your hurricane plan or prepping for your Fall office reopening. (And I’m here to send you that bottle of Infinite Blue logo’d SPF 50.) Have a Safe Summer!