Even though most of the Philippines is prepared to deal with natural disasters, knowing that your VA might be affected by the latest typhoon can be stressful.

First and foremost, you’re worried about their safety.
Secondly, you’re also worried about their work; when and whether they’d be able to get back to work.

It’s the same for your VA. They’re going to prioritize the safety of their family. But they’re also going to worry about whether or not they have a job to get back to.

Without a job, it’ll be much harder for them to recover.

You can’t avoid disaster, but you can plan for it and minimize the adverse effects.

1. Insist on workers having laptops and portable drives. A laptop is easier to carry and save than a desktop. In fact, saving their laptops and cellphones is the priority for many Filipino workers. In addition to keeping their work, laptops can help them get in touch and be informed of what’s happening, once they’re able to connect to the internet.

I’ve had multiple experiences where they sent me a picture of them on top of their roof with everything around them completely flooded. They always say “But don’t worry Sir, I saved my laptop.”

Encourage them to have portable drives or back up their work in the cloud regularly.

2. Invest in cloud storage. When all your VAs’ work is saved in the cloud, nothing is lost. Even if they lose their computer and phone, they can always get back to work as long as their work is backed up.

3. Get their emergency contacts to ensure continued communication. This can be your other VAs’ relatives, or friends that you can call (or call you) if you can’t contact your VA. If you have a team, encourage them to share their contact information with each other. This is especially helpful if your VAs are sent to an evacuation center where there’s no internet.

4. Discuss emergency protocols 
There doesn’t need to be a lot here.  Just let them know that you know about typhoons, fires, and volcanoes. Let them know that if there’s a disaster, you want to be notified as soon as they can. They shouldn’t need to take extreme measures to contact you, but you should be one of the first after they’re safe.

These things won’t prevent a natural disaster, but they’ll help you and them know that work will continue after something goes wrong.

Is there anything I missed? Any other suggestions on how to disaster-proof your VA? I’d love to hear them.

John