What would happen if you had to run your entire business remotely – no face-to-face encounters with employees, no team meetings, no direct management oversight – and with only 60 percent of your employees able to work at all? How would you carry on with limited access to files and information you need for decision-making? Worse, what if you and your executive team are incapacitated yourselves?

That’s the probable impact of an avian flu pandemic.

If yours is a business that relies on public interaction, such as a restaurant, retail operation or healthcare facility, things could be even worse. And with other businesses operating in similar circumstances, you’ll probably have a difficult time receiving the materials or services you need on a timely basis. In addition, consider community impacts such as limited availability of first responders, school closings, food shortages, reduced or absent refuse collection, maybe even rolling brownouts.

At a meeting in late June in Boston, more than 150 people heard from experts and fellow executives about this looming issue. Many businesses are preparing for a potential pandemic, and, according to attendees, the simple process of preparing a plan to deal with this possibility is an education in itself. While no one knows the exact probability of this occurrence, there is enough concern that major corporations are putting preparedness plans in place.

Communication will be essential to helping organizations manage order and in reassuring employees, customers, vendors, strategic partners, and others. If a pandemic occurs, these groups will want to know what your organization is doing and whether you’re prepared to handle the challenge.

What differentiates this threat from other serious events such as preparation for Y2K is that this is a people-centric event. As such, its impacts on your business continuity will be personnel-centric.

Organizations with good risk communication that is consistent and honest may be able to achieve a decisive advantage under these conditions. The time to prepare some of that communication is now. Even though those communication materials may require some amending during an actual pandemic, the clear thinking and the review by all key individuals during a time of calm will prepare your organization to manage its way through such an event.

“Write that first memo,” suggested Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charles Baker. “It helps you figure out the gap analysis.” And, he said, the process of preparing these communications helps the actual process of business continuity planning.

Lisa McCarthy, vice president and business continuity manager at Putnam Investments, said that her company is making the assumption that under the worst-case scenario, only half of its personnel will be available for work. She and her team surmise that a pandemic could last for 8 to 12 weeks.

There won’t be much time to react to a warning that a pandemic will hit – maybe no more than a week. Experts expect the illness to recur in a series of waves, complicating business recovery.

It may well be quite serious. Are you ready with your messages of assurance?

To learn more about preparing your communication plan, call 978-463-7952 or send an e-mail to lkettleson@kettlesongroup.com.