To say that this is a difficult time for our nation, the world and our organizations is an understatement. Never are our relationships with our stakeholders more important than they are today—during a time of uncertainty, fear and concern that has swept the globe. As I write this, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports 142,320 confirmed cases of covid-19 in 129 countries, with 5,388 deaths in what is now defined as a pandemic.

You have probably received messages from some of your...

Today I read a useful article on pandemic planning by Lisa M. Koonin in the Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning. The article outlines practical steps that organizations should take now to prepare for a pandemic. I thought a summary might be useful for my colleagues.

Many businesses created pandemic plans a decade or more ago when we faced H1N1, SARS, MERS, Ebola and other health crises. Unfortunately many of those plans have since been gathering dust on the shelf. It is...