As the owner, manager/executive director or supervisor are you at work all the time?
Do you answer all the questions from your associates?
Are you the only person who knows how to do certain things?
Do your associates know what to do if there is an emergency? What if a customer or client gets hurt? What if one of your associates has an allergic reaction. Does anyone other than you know what to do?
How many of your systems and processes only exist between your ears?
What happens when you are away or on holidays?
Short of never taking any time off, consider creating a “What If” file for your associates: these things and more will happen when you are not around.
A “What if” file is not for you, it is for your associates.
A “What if” file consists of detailed instruction on how to handle unusual situations or seldom used procedures. For example, if an associate is injured at work, do your key people know what forms have to be completed, who decides to call an ambulance, what forms have to be submitted to the various government departments afterwards, and how quickly does all of this have to occur. Delays in processing can affect the associate and can result in fines and increased costs. Having an easy-to-reference checklist with all of the important steps will help everyone.
As your organization grows, you may find yourself needing a “What If” file for yourself. If a situation occurs that you have not handled in a while, it is easy to forget certain details. For example, if a customer is having an issue with their invoice, having instructions for someone working on an evening shift, when all of the regular managers have left for the day, will save the customer from being frustrated and reduce the associate’s frustration as well. Having the ability to double check will save time, money, and your client/customer will not have to return at a later date to resolve their issue. A side benefit is that your people will get stronger: they will know how to handle situations without having to run to you for guidance.
What should be in YOUR “What if” file?
The “What if” file can be as simple with a few documents or complex with detailed instructions. What is in the file will depend on:
- Your organization
- The number and experience of your key people
- How susceptible your team is to unexpected absences
The larger your organization, the more likely someone will be absent; many functions will continue, but they will run smoother if your people have easy access to the instructions and procedures they seldom use. For example, in a smaller organization, if the person who does the bank deposit is absent, the documents in the “What if” file might outline: how to do the daily bank deposits and where everything is kept, it might include instructions on how to settle and reconcile the daily cash receipts. These are all important daily functions; however, if someone only does them rarely, it is easy to make costly mistakes.
Start with a list of things you think are important. Then have a meeting of your key people and ask them what situations make them nervous and build the file from there. The list of things that your people have may surprise you and you may not consider them all to be important. However, you need to remember that this list is not for you.
Consider the following as examples to begin a conversation:
- If your company has vehicles, where are the ownership and insurance documents? Accidents happen and your key people need to be able to put their hands on this information quickly. Usually, they look for this information while the police are waiting for it because the right forms were not available in the vehicle, adding unnecessary stress for everyone involved.
- Emergency contact information is useful to have. For example: your insurance company representative; your accountants; repair people for mechanical breakdowns; such as, HVAC, company vehicles, computer system, software, turbo machines (credit cards), internet, telephones, utilities (gas, water, hydro), automatic doors, alarm system, sprinkler system, and plumbing. For example, if the heating system breaks in January, if your supervisors don’t know who to call to repair, they may call just call the first person they find just to fix the system resulting in delays, and extra costs, had they known the right person to call, the service might have been under warranty and completed as a priority for the servicing company.
- Emergency contacts for your associates, such as information on their allergies, insurance, and benefit claims. These questions may be rare, but they do happen, and eventually they will happen when you are not there. For example, personnel files are usually confidential, but if an emergency occurs and the associate is unconscious, and nobody can access the file, delays and confusion can make a bad situation much worse.
- Who has the ability to authorize a payout or a cheque in the unexpected absence of an owner or executive director?
- A copy of the organization’s associate handbook. A comprehensive handbook is a handy reference guide. The more questions your associates can answer themselves, the more confidence they will have and the stronger your organization will be.
- Copies of your organizations emergency response procedures:
The standard ones:
- Fire
- Theft
- Assault, discrimination, and harassment
- Vehicle accidents
- Handling irate client/customers
The less serious but still important ones:
- Power outages, who to call, does everyone go home?
- Where the emergency supplies are kept (flashlights, land-line telephone, radio)
- Inclement weather guidelines for closing and/or advising staff
These procedures do not have to be long, but you should have them and they need to be easy to find in an emergency. These procedures should include a list of the emergency contacts. Many of these situations are similar, but the subtle differences are usually the things that are missed.
- How to handle a negative social media situation. With the speed of the internet, customer complaints can go viral in an extremely short time. Your organization should have an established policy on de-escalation and who takes ownership of these situations. Keeping ahead of the “fire” can be extremely important for your organization and having conversations about how to handle these situations as well as some key reminders can be the difference between a small problem and a public relations disaster.
- Accident reporting forms. Your organization should have “completed samples” to follow and spare forms with instructions on which government departments are to receive them. Accidents are usually rare and unless your people follow the procedures regularly, having written instructions will help avoid costly mistakes.
- The Material Safety Data Sheets or your local equivalent so everyone knows where to find them when necessary.
- Detailed instructions on the buildings sprinkler system in case of accidental activation. How do you turn the system off? How do you drain a pressured system? It happens and if your key people don’t know these things, 80 lbs/inch of water can become very costly very quickly.
General rules
- Perhaps one of the most important things to consider is where to keep the “What If” file? It should be somewhere accessible for everyone and make sure everyone knows where it is. You might be tempted to keep it digitally; however, the power may not be available when emergencies happen.
- Keep the information current. The best thing is to review it once per quarter so that the information will remain useful to your team.
- Whether online or in hard copy, have a system of organization that is easy to use and not frustrating for the associates who are trying to find the information in the file.
- Semi-annually review the procedures to keep them current and role-play different scenarios to test just how quickly and efficiently your people can access the information.
Having a “What If” file is a useful exercise to give your associates the comfort of knowing that you have given them the tools they need to handle their jobs in unusual circumstances. In addition, the simple act of writing out your key procedures and systems is a great way to ensure that your systems are current and still applicable.
A “What-If” file ensures that when something unexpected happens, your people know what to do and will execute solutions better.