Preparation, testing and contingency planning
After following the massive screw up that has been the opening of the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, I asked myself a few questions. For those who do not know about the Terminal 5 debacle, all you really need to know is that this new terminal received a lot of hype, media attention, cost a bomb and caused a lot of controversy. This is all before even being opened. Once it did open, the baggage sorting software failed and nine days of chaos ensued. It is estimated this failure will cost £16m in lost revenue and caused thousands of disgruntled customers. Lets just say it is bad PR.
In my eyes it is a wasted opportunity. A new launch should be a big deal. It should be exciting and very positive. In this case, the opportunity for a lot of great brand building has been wasted. The damage done will take years to repair. The sheer amount of media attention revolving around this launch makes it hard to go unnoticed when a problem arises. This begs the question, how can something so central to the operation of one of the world’s largest airports go so wrong?
Software failures happen. Technical difficulties hit at the least convenient time, every time. The reality is that things are always going to go wrong that is why we prepare for events, we test our software or equipment and we create contingency plans for when things go wrong. Let me explain these parts.
Preparation
We have all heard phrases such as “prior preparation prevents poor performance” aka “the 5 P’s” or “failing to plan is planning to fail”. Planning and preparation come hand in hand. For the sake of the argument lets say they are they same thing. This involves deciding exactly what you want to happen, what you will do to make it happen, how you will do it, and doing anything that needs doing beforehand. We all know about this stuff. The problems arise when planning is insufficient and lacking in detail. Lack of information, lack of experience, and poor timing often get in the way of preparation. For these very reasons it is advisable to do this long in advance.
Testing
In a world dominated by IT and dependent on so many variables, testing is ever so important. Make sure everything is not only in place, but that is is also working perfectly. If you are launching new software, test is thoroughly. If you are using a new machine of some sort, test it. New product/website/whatever, test it!
I had a nightmare situation once whereby I had produced some T shirts, and I put them on sale immediately wanting to get stuff out of the door and everything going forward. I sold a few the first day and posted them off. Two days later I washed my own and the print ran. I phoned the printer and they realised they hadforgotten to run them through the dryer hot enough to fix the prints. No surprise I started getting emails regarding prints running. I had to recall everything and deal with customers. Luckily the printer accepted the mistake and resolved it in a matter of days. No big problem except I was wasting money paying for postage twice and refunding people for the charge of returning their garments. A simple test delaying the launch 24 hours would have prevented the whole situation. Lesson learnt!
Contingency Planning
No matter how much we plan, prepare, test etc, things will go wrong. It is a part of life. Contingency planning is a true sign of being serious about your business. A contingency plan covers what you will do and how you will do it should the worst happen. It is where you detail how you will troubleshoot. This prior preparation can seriously minimise your losses when something happens. All major businesses have contingency plans, but very few small and medium sizes businesses do, and it is the smaller businesses who suffer the most!
As we work online, we are more used to preparation and testing. Do you test everything thoroughly? Any lessons learnt? Have you planned for the worst? Do you have a contingency plan?