We have all heard this scenario before (or some variation of it): “If so and so got hit by a bus, we would have no one to replace him/her or no one else knows how to do X or Y.” This is a BAD situation to be in from all angles, but it is not always avoidable. Whether you are at a large company or a small company (it is much more likely that you cannot avoid it at a small company, so you are off the hook on this one), you should go to whatever lengths needed to ensure that everyone knows the job of the person to the right and to the left of them (this is metaphorically speaking of course, but you get the picture).

When you are in the throws of a major release and one of your key players is out sick, on travel or vacation, the last thing you can afford is for progress to stop. You may have a customer that is waiting for their product, you may be in the midst of a major system upgrade, or you may be launching the public beta product (the lifeline of your company), and anything short of missing the deadline by a minute is unacceptable. Companies should take a page out of any sports team’s playbook, they have second and third stringers for a reason. Imagine the situation where Tony Romo was injured and Wade Phillips said well it looks like we are going to have to postpone the game this weekend since Romo can’t play. That would not go over too well with the NFL or the fans. The backup QB would be put in and the game would go on (they may loose depending on who they are playing, but they would play the game).

So why then do those rules not apply in the business world? In most cases they do, but when they do not, it is just simply unacceptable. Employees are a company’s best assets, but when you put all that responsibility and trust in one person and they for whatever reason are not there, then his or her backup should step in and take over. If not, you have a problem on your hands and you better fix it sooner than later.

For the record, I am not a Dallas Cowboys fan, Tony Romo’s name just popped into my head and I ran with it.