11 March 2011
With only 500 days until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London on 27 July 2012, whether you are a London based business or not, you are likely to experience some kind of disruption from the Games and the Paralympics which follow. Below, Steelhenge offers its Top 10 Tips to ensure your resilience is fit for the Olympics.
The Olympics is the world’s largest sporting event (see Table) with 33 venues nationally. Additionally, there is a 70 day UK-wide Games Torch Relay involving 8000 torchbearers starting on 18 May and finishing at the Opening Ceremony.
Organisations and businesses across the UK are urged to make business continuity arrangements to minimise the impacts of disruption on their operations. What can you do to prepare?
Like pandemic flu, the primary impact of the Olympics will be on people through disruption to the daily lives of all those working in London or near venues. If you have existing business continuity or pandemic plans, build on these and see how they can be adapted to meet the impacts of this disruption.
Transport networks will be stretched as hundreds of thousands more people use trains and buses. This means staff may not be able to get into work as easily as usual. Consider flexible working during the Games and holding more teleconferences to reduce travel. Remember that your staff may also request holiday to volunteer during the Games or see events so you will need to ensure you have identified your critical business processes and minimum staffing levels to maintain these during this period.
Government planning assumptions based on experience from previous Olympics indicate 30% of Londoners taking holiday during the Games. Consider your existing HR policies and identify if they need to be adapted to meet the Olympic situation.
Good communications, both internally and externally, will be essential to minimise the impact of the Olympics on your organisation and allow the wheels to roll on smoothly.
•Identify key stakeholders that you might need to keep briefed (internal and external)
•Draft core communications messages
•Ensure staff know where to get information and advice from both in relation to the general situation and the organisation’s plans for the Games
Surges in localised internet and mobile communications will impose additional stresses on local networks. If your Olympics continuity strategy involves remote working make sure you test your ICT systems ahead of the Games to identify any problems.
Consider:
•Is your IT infrastructure capable of supporting the number of remote workers expected to utilise the facility
•Identify ‘hands on’ support activities and whether a ‘hands off’ alternative can be implemented e.g. disaster recovery backup processing
•Non-emergency updates that could be suspended
•Resilience of the IT support personnel and if necessary whether key tasks or processes can be documented for use by delegates
Review your IT policy with regards to streaming live events over the internet. If you allow staff to watch events, consider the potential impact on your IT systems (bandwidth).
As spectators pour into the Capital and Live Sites across the UK, security is a paramount concern. Make sure your security procedures are robust and staff are aware of any changes well in advance. Ensure you’ve done a risk assessment and that your existing plans for evacuations still work in this unique environment.
Understand where the Venue sites are and how they could potentially impact your business. In the event that your business is located near to an Olympic venue, make sure you have arrangements in place should you be unable to gain access to your workplace due to any control measures imposed by the police. Once more consider how your response teams could manage a potential incident if staff are working remotely.
With widespread transport disruption likely, ensure you have assessed who and where your key suppliers are, and how they will be operating over the period. Identify potential issues and make alternative arrangements in the event that your suppliers are unable to deliver including factoring in extra time for deliveries.
Are your suppliers contracted to the Olympics? The Games will take priority in terms of service delivery so you may find that any problems you have with IT, telecoms, utilities or facilities, for example, may not be resolved as quickly as usual.
Set up an in-house Olympics working group to co-ordinate planning, keep abreast of the Games’ development, monitor news and identify situations that could result in disruption to your business. Ensure this involves the person responsible for communications.
The Olympics will happen in 2012. It not only makes good business sense to prepare continuity plans but you might also use the Olympics as an opportunity to exercise your plans and rehearse your staff to ensure your response to any situation is as effective as possible – before it happens.
Taking these steps will ensure your organisation is better prepared to withstand the impacts of the Olympics and the benefits will endure long after the Games are over in terms of improving your business’ resilience.
If you would like further information or help with your Olympics planning, please call us on 0845 094 2117 or e-mail: enquiries@steelhenge.co.uk
