The Bump Plan (#19)
In Afghanistan, the unit I was part of conducted air assaults that used helicopters to move infantry soldiers to surprise and attack the Taliban about every ten days. In the planning for these complicated operations, we would create a plan assuming we could use four helicopters. We also developed contingency plans to execute the mission using three, or even two helicopters. To ensure that the operation would succeed, we would shuffle essential soldiers and equipment to the available helicopters. This plan to make sure the key people and equipment were at the target was called the bump plan.
In the last post, we discussed the stages of the coronavirus crisis — sprint, marathon, recovery, and new normal. Using that framework, businesses and non-profits have had to execute their own, typically ad hoc, bump plans as the crisis changed the business environment over the past two months.
One manufacturing company’s approach to a corporate bump plan during the Sprint and Marathon Stage of the crisis may be driven totally off of revenue:
Bump Plan, Phase One — 90% revenue. Eliminate sales, administration, and unnecessary travel.
Bump Plan, Phase Two — 80% revenue. Eliminate consultants.
Bump Plan, Phase Three — 70% revenue. Furlough some employees.
Bump Plan, Phase Four — 60% revenue. Dismiss some employees.
Bump Plan, Phase Five — 50% revenue. Close or eliminate some of the business.
As we start to think about the Recovery Stage and New Normal Stage, a reverse bump plan for that same company might look like this:
Reverse Bump Plan, Phase One — 60% revenue. Reinvigorate sales, administration, and unnecessary travel.
Reverse Bump Plan, Phase Two — 70% revenue. Bring back furloughed employees.
Reverse Bump Plan, Phase Three — 80% revenue. Hire/Rehire employees.
Reverse Bump Plan, Phase Four — 90% revenue. Contract consultants.
It may be worthwhile this week to gather the team and think about your bump plan and your reverse bump plan as you lead your team through the crisis.