This is written as the United States becomes the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of us knowledge workers are working at home if we hadn't already been doing that. As many adjust to a new way of working, I'm guessing that things have been mostly continuing on similarly to before, except over Zoom and Slack instead of meeting rooms and hallways.

Now is the time to start planning for what is coming next: More people getting sick and needing to take time off to care for others. In fact, this could happen at any time. People get sick, have family emergencies, and go on extended vacations even during "normal" times. Right now we are facing the unexpected at a gigantic scale.

Your primary concern should be the well being of your team, friends, family, and yourself. Having a content contingency plan takes work worries off your plate so you can focus on the important things.

Anyone may need to step away from work, but the show must go on. Do you have a plan for how to get web content updated if the person (or people) who make that happen cannot work? What about your email communications? Who will pick up that responsibility when your digital marketing person is in bed for two weeks or has to handle personal issues and needs back-up?

A content operations plan needs to be put into place as soon as possible. It doesn't have to be fancy. Whether you have been able to continue creating and publishing content seamlessly through all this or your usual process has fallen by the wayside, you need to have a Plan A, B, and C.

Here is the basic outline of what you can do to ensure continuity of content creation and publication:

1. Map out how content gets created and put on the website, into the mass email system, and on social media. Include the names of people who do each thing. There could be several workflows, depending on the subject of the content, where it needs to be published, who the audience is, and urgency. See sample workflow chart
2. Prioritize the workflows. Which are the most important? Which can be made more efficient by skipping steps in the review process or going through a central person or group? Co-create this with everyone involved. Do not make it happen by decree. There are often nuances you may not be aware of.
3. Document the new flows.
4. Add two back-ups for each person. Make sure those people know their role and responsibility should they need to step in.
5. Share with everyone in the organization and put it in an easily findable place so it can be accessed by everyone—maybe the company intranet or employee portal, a shared drive, or Slack team.