Be Prepared Succession Planning
We all know the people on our teams who carry more of the load than others. But most of us don't think about what happens if we lose one of those valuable team members. Planning for the inevitable day when someone gets called out because of a personal emergency isn't pessimism. It's preparedness. But how do we start building a contingency plan? Well, you're in luck. That's the focus of today's newsletter! Now keep reading.
Preparing For The Unexpected
Most contingency plans are built for large companies with layers of management and policies. But when you're a smaller team, that's not the way it goes. However, maybe it should be?The logic is sound, and when I strip out all the corporate clutter, I find six things that are worth doing in our world.
Name the roles that can't go dark
Not every role on the team puts the company at an equal level of risk. So the first thing to do is look at the roles where one person carries the knowledge, skill, and/or relationship that the entire agency depends on. It could be the only person who understands the way the system was built, or that the client asks for by name. These are the folks we need to plan around right away. Everything else can take a backseat.
Write down what the role actually requires
I'm not talking about a job description, but a functional list of what that person knows that doesn't exist anywhere else. What important decisions does that person make that you don't even realize are happening?
It can be hard to answer, but we need to. Otherwise, we won't know what we're actually preparing for.
Look at who's already close
Once you have a clear idea of what it is you need to replace, it's time to find that person who can step in when the time comes. And it's rare that you have to go outside the team. There's almost always someone only a step or two behind the person that we need to cover for. So take a close look and see who is ready to step up when the time comes.
Give them real exposure, not just a heads-up
You can't just hand somebody a document and expect them to be ready to get in the game. Make sure you're giving them opportunities to see how the current person is handling the role. Let them be a part of the conversations where decisions are being made. This takes a lot longer than writing a memo, but it's the only thing that's actually going to work when the time comes.
And for the individual who’s being mirrored, make sure they understand that this is a way to support them when they end up with an unexpected challenge.
Test it with lower stakes to get started
Vacation is a great way to rehearse for the real thing without the risk. Let the backup person run the account while the primary person is out for a week or two. Watch what breaks and fix it. Document it, and make sure it's a point of conversation when the primary person comes back.
Definitely cheaper to learn during a planned trip than during an unplanned emergency that takes somebody away unexpectedly.
Schedule times to revisit the plan
The plan you wrote even six months ago may not reflect the current team. You need to keep an eye on who's gone, and who grew into a more valuable player. It's possible your service offering changed too, and that can make for some needed revisions.
I recommend you check it once or twice a year. Not a big formal production, just enough to share with everyone what's changed and how the new plan accommodates it.
For a contingency plan like this to work, it requires deciding honestly where the risk on the team exists and taking care of it before it happens.
The shops that handle this well aren't always the ones that are the most buttoned up. They're the persistent ones who do the unglamorous work of asking who is going to step up, and then actually give them the space to do a dry run before it matters. So take a look around the Slack channels and figure out who that person is that would hurt the most if they got called away. That's how you get started.
