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Managing a Crisis - What We Can Do?

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If we look at our risk register, the bottom right hand corner.


Here we have events which might have a huge impact but perhaps a low probability of occurring.


If such an event would have an existential threat to an organisation existing in its present form or even at all, then that event can be termed a crisis.


We need to deal with a crisis but how can we do it?


As Robert McNamara the US Secretary of State at the time of the Cuban missile crisis said: " There is no longer any such thing as a strategy, only crisis management ".


A crisis is a pressurised situation facing an organisation. It is a very serious situation with very serious consequences for the organisation and wider society.


Crises can be sudden, serious and unforeseen events. They could have been anticipated but not necessarily.


Crises will always happen and we must be anticipated as far as possible.


In many ways each crisis is unique to the organisation it touches. But there are certain principles we can apply to all crises we face.


First we must give ourselves time to think about what we and our organisation are facing.


This is important before we move on.


We need to know:


  • What is happening?


  • Why it is happening?


  • What might happen if we do nothing?


  • What do we need to do?


  • How quickly do we need to act?


  • Who is to be involved?


  • What resources do we have to tackle the crisis? e g. Equipment, finance, support organisations etc.


  • We need to set up a preliminary action plan with contingency plans to cope with the crisis.


  • We have to set up a crisis management team ( CMT) to deal with the crisis we face


  • It is necessary to allocate roles and responsibilities within the crisis management team (CMT)


  • We have to set up a geographical and virtual crisis management Centre


  • We also need to set up a communication centre and process to cope with the crisis.


  • We need detailed plans and timescales to be prepared to tackle the crisis.


  • We need to monitor, plan, implement and control crisis management plans and outcomes.


The above points are crucial to increase our operational resilience in a crisis!


What might the C M T need to do?


  • Define the crisis


  • Specify the objectives to deal with it


  • Gather and analyse the facts of the crisis


  • Consider and evaluate alternative courses of action


  • Implement and monitor and control proposed solutions to the crisis


  • Evaluate outcomes of our proposed solutions


  • Prioritise solutions and do the important actions first of all.


The latter point is important, priority is important because there will be a huge pressure on resources.


We have looked at crisis management in terms of the response to 4he crisis and the qualities needed for crisis managers.


Crisis management is a vital component of organisational resilience.


We should treat it as such and practice our response to crises using stress testing as a key tool.


Practising responses to crises gives us an advantage when a real crisis hits us!


Let's not forget that.






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