Specific Guidance for Each Step in MC

The chart below offers a comprehensive overview of the MC workflow steps and shows the guidance provided within the tool for each step.

WORKFLOW STEPS	SUMMARY OF DATA BEING GATHERED
Group/Team/Division Profile	Profile The profile provides basic information about your Group/Team/Division. Organization & Assignment of Responsibilities In the event of an incident that impedes routine operations, certain staff may be asked to relocate, take on additional or alternative functional responsibilities, or take on other assigned duties as circumstances dictate. In the Group/Team/Division Personnel section, try to detail continuity/functional activities that might be assigned to personnel to support continuity plan implementation. It is critical to know who to contact from your Group/Team/Division in an emergency.
Essential Contacts	Knowing who to contact in an emergency is critical. You should have identified those key Contacts within your Group/Team/Division in the previous section. You can expand the Group/Team/Division Profile section to view/modify your Group/Team/Division Staff Listing. In addition, you will also want to identify other important Stanford University Contacts, non-Stanford University Contacts, or any others that may be of importance to your operations. It is recommended to annually review and update the Contacts, as well as keep hard copies readily accessible and in multiple locations.
Leadership & Succession/Delegation	Identify your Group/Team/Division’s leadership and continuity responsibilities. Specify (by title) who has the authority to activate this plan. Group/Team/Division Succession Plan and Delegation of Authority Succession is critical to ensuring effective leadership during an emergency. In the event a leader is incapable or unavailable to fulfill essential duties, successors should be identified to ensure there is no lapse in essential decision-making authority. Consider identifying succession designations three positions deep. In the event the Group/Team/Division’s leadership cannot be reached or is incapable of performing their authorized legal duties, roles, and responsibilities, the Group/Team/Division must notify its successors/alternates, as well as internal and external stakeholders. Revisions to the plan should be distributed to appropriate personnel as changes occur. In this step, identify and document successors or alternates for: Financial delegation of authority Legal authority Authority to make key policy decisions and judgements Assigning authorities prior to a continuity plan activation will ensure that leaders have the power to act during an emergency.
Essential Functions	Determining Essential Functions A major part of continuity planning is identifying functions that define your operations. These are called Essential Functions. Essential Functions are those services, programs, or activities that are necessary to ongoing operations and, were they to stop for an extended time period, would directly affect operations. The support you provide to the university often relies on uninterrupted services, supplies or activities. Stopping Essential Functions will cause an unacceptable disruption to your operations and services as well as to other departments and units. Identifying Essential Functions will reveal how to restart operations. By prioritizing Essential Functions, you can determine which personnel, facilities, equipment, and materials are necessary to keep your Group/Team/Division functioning. In general, you should be able to organize your operations into four to six Essential Functions, possibly more if you are a highly complex Group/Team/Division. If your list of functions is long, consider grouping similar activities into a single function. Developing Recovery Strategies When a disaster or major disruption happens, every moment counts. To prepare, outline the actions to take after a disaster to maintain or restore each Essential Function. When creating your Recovery Strategies, be sure to include enough details to make them useful, but don't make them overly complicated. An effective Recovery Strategy should be easily understood by all of your recovery team.
Technology Requirements	Identifying Technology Requirements It is difficult to imagine how we could possibly work without computers or the internet. Whether it's a stand-alone desktop computer, laptop, tablet, high-capacity computing, or a smartphone, we depend on computers every day. Identifying Information Technology requirements your Department / Unit relies on is a critical step in ensuring continuity of operations.
Essential Resources	Determining Essential Resources Knowing which Essential Resources are needed to maintain Essential Functions is another critical step in creating a continuity plan. Consider if your Group/Team/Division relies on highly-specialized equipment, supplies, vendors or services that are not easily replaced. Consider how operations might be impacted if such a resource were unavailable. Interdependencies in the context of Essential Functions planning refer to relationships among internal, Stanford departments. An upstream dependency is a department that provides direct support, services or resources you depend on to perform an Essential Function. If you do not have the support of the other unit, you will not be able to execute your Essential Function. A downstream dependency is a department that depends on you to provide direct support , services or resources to perform their Essential Function.
Facility & Alternate Facility Requirements	Identifying Facility Requirements Identifying facility operating requirements is an important step when creating a continuity plan. Facility requirements may include security, door access, HVAC and specialized ventilation systems, power systems, backup power, water and chilled water systems, shut off valves, electric panels, and fire safety systems. A power outage is a major disruption to any Group/Team/Division, and while a brief outage may be annoying, a longer outage can significantly disrupt university operations. Emergency Relocation A disaster, whether large or small, might force you to relocate operations for an extended period of time. A fire, chemical spill, sprinkler malfunction or even smoke from a nearby fire are just some of the incidents that might require relocation. Recovery and restoration may take several days to several months. Identifying possible relocation sites and determining resource requirements is important and will save valuable time during relocation.
Activation & Demobilization	Activation Procedures Mission Continuity plans should be activated in response to a disruption to normal operations. The disruption could be caused by lack of access to the facility, systems outage, or loss of people - or a multitude of other events. The objective of the Mission Continuity plan is to recover critical (time-sensitive) operations over time. Oftentimes referred to as continuity triggers - an event that can potentially impede your operations - these incidents range from planned events to unplanned incidents. Among the most common continuity incident triggers are: Anticipated or planned events "Office" incidents Public allegations or reputational concerns Critical vendor or supplier incidents Significant shifts in financial markets major information technology operations or infrastructure issues Major information security incidents or breaches Injury or death of leadership Below, consider or identify the following: Who determines the level of activation? How will the status of personnel, assets, and facilities be assessed? How will personnel be notified of decisions? How will personnel know when and where to report? How will changes in succession be determined and communicated? Which communication method(s) will be used? How will essential functions be prioritized? How will resources be transported to alternate facilities or remote locations? If teleworking, how will personnel receive updates? How will essential contacts and vendors be notified? Feel free to add as many courses of action as deemed appropriate. Return to Normal or Reconstitution Procedures Reconstitution is the process by which continuity personnel resume normal operations. Groups/Teams/Divisions should determine guidance to ensure the effective transition and phase-down of continuity operations. Below, consider or identify the following: Who determines when phase down begins? How will the status of personnel, assets, and facilities be assessed? How will personnel be notified of the decision to phase down? Which communication method(s) will be used? How will personnel move operations to primary facilities (from alternate facilities or remote operations)? How will essential functions be prioritized? How will changes in succession be determined and communicated? How will resources be transported back to primary facilities? How will essential contacts and vendors be notified? How will lessons learned be captured or incorporated into Mission Continuity plans? Feel free to add as many courses of action as deemed appropriate.
Group/Team/Division Review & Approval	Review & Approval Continuity planning does not begin after a disaster strikes, and the information you have collected and the conversations you have had with your staff will help you prepare to respond quickly and efficiently to any emergency, as well as establish a recovery plan that will minimize interruption to your operations.