A contingency is any unanticipated or unplanned occurrence
that might or might not occur throughout the future. It is an occurrence that is normally outside the organization's reach and can have an effect on its organizational operations as well as other procedures. The most important realization of disaster preparation is the meaning and relevance it provides to an organization. Since several aspects influence the activity of a company, both visible and unseen, careful attention must be given to them to ensure their mitigating. It is done with the intention of posing pertinent and crucial questions. They would form a blueprint in the event they take place to ensure sustainability and protection of the business and mitigate the effects that would occur (Cerullo & Cerullo, 2004).
Relation between Creativity and Critical Thinking to Contingency Planning
Creativity and critical thinking are two important aspects that get intertwined to the concept of contingency planning. They are of crucial importance as they form the basis of coming up with the most efficient contingency plan. There is need to identify and pinpoint the most critical aspects that would seem to impact the organization which more often than not are beyond their control. In such scenarios, a well-guided and thought out process could be formulated to ensure continuity and survival of the business under any circumstance and situation by protecting of all the important necessities (Cerullo & Cerullo, 2004).
How to Integrate Creativity into Own Planning Process
With regards to a planning process, creativity can be incorporated to allow for coming up with a comprehensive plan. One of the ways would be the analysis of a particular situation from various dimensions and angles. It would facilitate coming up with a clear picture regarding the best plan to implement. All business operations would get identified that would allow for elaboration and identification of the risks involved. Later on, prioritizing of the risks would take place to determine their level of seriousness thereby developing the plan. What is more, diversity can get integrated into the situation in coming up with alternatives that would serve as pillars in case a chosen plan doesn't go the usual way (Lentzos & Rose, 2009).
Lesson Learnt about the Relationship between Creativity and Decision-Making
Creativity is an integral process when it comes to the issue of decision making. It would guide the development of the best and most suitable plan to implement during an unforeseen event. An example is when analyzing the impact a hurricane may have in the event it occurs and the effects it would bring about in the business operation. Such a situation would enable the management come up the best strategy and way to follow to mitigate the adversity of the matter (Lentzos & Rose, 2009). Creativity would be of the essence since it would assist in analyzing the situation from various angles and dimensions. Then different strategies that are mapped out can be refined and fine-tuned to ensure utmost efficiency and a solution guide to solving of the matter in the most comprehensive way.
Key Steps that Might Require a Contingency Plan
Concerning a contingency plan, certain measures are vital and need an emergency plan. Some of them include the identification step, priority building phase, planning step, execution step and the review step. Identification step concerns all the areas of vulnerability, prioritizing action requires ranking of the vulnerabilities and planning requires coming up with effective mitigation strategies. Execution step involves taking action, and the review stage is all about analyzing whether the policies have achieved their intended purposes or not according to the plan (Lentzos & Rose, 2009).
References
Cerullo, V., & Cerullo, M. J. (2004). Business continuity planning: A comprehensive approach. Information Systems Management, 21(3), 70-78.
Lentzos, F., & Rose, N. (2009). Governing insecurity: contingency planning, protection, resilience. Economy and Society, 38(2), 230-254.