b'BUSINESS CONTINUITY BEST PRACTICESBUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING: WHY TELEWORKING IS KEY BY BEV CLINEHow sewer and watermain companies can incorporate technology and human resources best practices for teleworking into their strategic planningT elework is a must for any business. Thatsnecessitates a parent to work at home. Or your the opinion of Robert Meunier, Presidentemployee or a member of their family is ill. of Maestro Technologies Inc. This is not a recent opinion, borne of the situation whereOr, an employee could be working on an urgent project companies have been forced to scramble, beand wants to work on it, lets say after dinner at home, nimble and learn how to keep their work- so they need to be set up to be able to do telework and force productiveand engagedin the faceconnect to their files at your office, he adds.of a worldwide pandemic. In contrast, prior to the onset of the pandemic, MaestroTelework can also be a matter of logistics and forward-Technologies had 10 per cent of its workforce workingplanning for your company, continues Meunier: from home; because it had a Business Continuity PlanSometimes telework is a question of optimization of in place, the company was able to transition to a 100space. If your business is growing and you are adding per cent telework model in short order. people, you have the choice between moving to a larger office or allowing some employees to work at home. Meunier has long believed that telework is an integralIn addition, you could maximize your space by opting component of any Business Continuity Plan. He saysfor shared workspaces between employees. This could there are a variety of reasons why your workforceinclude employees who work mainly on job sites and needs to work from home. There could be a snowstormcome into the office infrequently and those who do some and school closure. A work strike of some sort thattelework and come into the office only on some days. 26 H 2 OSWCASpring 2020'