Facilities Management Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

You don’t want to have a business disaster. However, it’s better to be prepared. Whether it’s a fire, a flood, or another disaster that interrupts or closes your business for a time, you need to have tools that allow you to bounce back from disaster and plan for the future. 

Creating A Disaster Plan

As a manager, you strive to create an office environment that’s as people-friendly as possible.You work to develop areas where staff can work privately or collaborate on projects. You also need to be sensitive to the need for emergency management plans and implement these in your everyday environment. From planning fire escape routes and keeping them clear to ensuring that key files are stored in areas that are not prone to floods, your management practices allow your facilities to run smoothly everyday and can reduce the impact and losses suffered during a disaster. 

Training Your Staff

As someone who manages employees’ built environment, a facilities manager should be involved in corporate conversations about risk management. You need to be a part of employee training as well. Your staff needs to ensure that your facility is prepared for and avoiding an emergency by performing regular maintenance checks on equipment and safety equipment.

During an emergency, your technicians and maintenance staff need to know what to do. They’ll need to examine the building for structural damage, flooding, and gas leaks. As recovery goes on, your staff might need to work to repair damage or replace electronic equipment and other assets that may have been damaged. Advance training helps prepare them to leap into this role if disaster strikes.

Know Where To Find And Store Key Resources

After a disaster, once everyone’s all right, you’ll start to assess the damage. As a facilities manager, you can help by providing a guide to your facilities and assets and where they are located. Cloud-based facilities management programs mean that your data won’t be lost. Any information you have about your facilities, assets, and inventory will still be accessible. This can help staff as they work to determine where they might find key resources, documents, and pieces of equipment. 

How To Immediately Know What You’ve Lost

In any disaster, you may lose some of your assets or need to recover or renovate some of your facilities. A thorough understanding of these facilities and assets will help you move through the recovery process. Your insurance company will need to understand the value of your assets and the inventory that you had on hand. As you recover, you’ll need to repair the damage, and a thorough accounting and record will help you as you go through the recovery process.

For instance, you may want to know where you can purchase new materials to replace those that were damaged. Having records of past purchases can be extremely helpful in these situations. You may have a record of the type of flooring you used when you last renovated an office, and you’ll have the company contact. These details are key to making recovery as smooth as possible.

Working To Rebuild

As you rebuild, you’ll need to move items into and out of your space. This is where space management software can come in handy, helping you keep track of the condition and location of all of your assets. You’ll also need information about the building exterior and interior as you strive to emulate the past layout or install new facilities and equipment that meet your needs. 

When you’re looking for facilities management software that can help you through the everyday and the unusual, talk to iOffice. Our software helps you manage your space, your move, your assets, and your inventory, giving you the tools you need to be an effective facilities manager. We may not be the right fit for everyone, but we can help you decide if our program would help your facility repair during a disaster, or even simply a big move. Whether or not you choose our product, seriously considering a fitting IWMS for your office is one of the best things you can do to prepare your office for whatever comes your way.