(Written by Ted Uczen, FEI President & CEO)

We recently moved our FEI offices from an almost-suburban, somewhat disconnected locale to downtown Milwaukee. This was a process that started well over a year ago and, as you can imagine, took hundreds upon hundreds of hours of planning. As I sat in my new office surrounded by crates needing unpacking, I began thinking about how a move and a move plan is a lot like a crisis and a crisis plan.

First, you don’t ever just get up and move—you need a plan and a lot of coordination. Likewise, you never want to be confronted with a crisis without having a plan for dealing with crisis. As we have talked about before, the absolute worst time to try and build a plan is during a crisis. Too much is going on and too much decision-making needs to happen in real time. Having your plan built, communicated and practiced beforehand allows you to react immediately and make better decisions based on previous work.

Key Takeaway: Just like in a move, there are bound to be issues and challenges that pop up. Having a plan with contingencies and a lot of preparation helps you efficiently move through these challenges.

Second, if you only think about the physical and operational aspects of the move without thinking about the people involved, you will have a major challenge. Prepare everyone for their role in the move: packing, cleaning, sorting, designing, etc. They need to be trained, prepared and communicated to regularly. The same holds true for a crisis; all too often we see tremendous amounts of time and effort put into crisis plans and, in the end, they cover tons of information about facilities, computer systems or operations and very little about people. Understanding how best to get your team ready, trained and prepared for their roles or knowing what to do during a crisis should be a key element of every plan.

Key Takeaway: People preparation is just as important as operational preparation. (By the way, if you are planning a move, make sure your checklist includes editing and adapting previous crisis plans before you go. Waiting until after could be far too late—get folks ready ahead of time.)

Third, a move doesn’t end on moving day. Sure, you’re out of the old place and into the new, but anyone who has ever moved before knows much more needs to happen. The after-move can need as much work and planning as the move itself. The same holds true for a crisis; it’s never over after the event ends. Operationally, time and effort is necessary to get everything working as before and people will need help adjusting to the “after crisis”—they too need the support and tools to adapt, learn, cope and be resilient.

Key Takeaway: Make sure your crisis plans include the before, during and after perspective.

A resilient business and workforce doesn’t just happen after a crisis. As with a move, there is a lot of planning and preparation that must be coupled with a good execution and post-plan.

Now…can someone help me please unpack these boxes?