Planning for the unexpected

Planning for contingencies
Contingency planning
Developing risk management

Description

Planning for the unexpected involves systematically preparing for unforeseen events by identifying potential risks, developing contingency plans, and allocating resources to ensure rapid response and recovery. This strategy enables organizations and communities to minimize disruption, safeguard critical operations, and adapt quickly to changing circumstances. By anticipating possible scenarios and establishing clear protocols, planning for the unexpected remedies vulnerabilities, reduces losses, and enhances resilience in the face of emergencies or sudden changes.

Implementation

Even a well-programmed fiscal plan can become obsolete if there are unexpected shortfalls. Furthermore, planners and budgeters often lack the will or the ability to make difficult decisions, with the result that they over-programme and pay too little attention to priorities, resource constraints or phasing. In the subsequent squeeze, there is a tendency to cut or delay all spending rather than to define priorities, with the result that funding for many programmes falls below the minimum elective level. It is therefore essential to set priorities and develop contingency plans for unexpected shortfalls as part of any planning or budgeting exercise. Such planning should include decisions as to which projects should receive full funding under all circumstances – a "core" investment programme – together with a list of standby projects to be funded only when additional resources are available. This practice should replace the current procedure of partially funding most or even all projects.