So, you have a crisis communication plan. There is a document lurking within the computer folders or on the Intranet that outlines what you will do when a crisis happens. Good work, because that is the start of being prepared and a vital step that needs to be in place. But as we head towards the final week of 30days30ways month that cannot be where it ends.
Testing and exercising the crisis communication plan is essential. It ensures that you can identify what needs to be amended, where there may be gaps and how to refine the approach. Done right you can have a moment to consider your decision making and how situations are addressed. It also helps to embed the plan and make sure that everyone who may need to be part of implementing it knows what they have to do.
For many in the emergency services, big business or organisations carrying a lot of risk crisis exercises are regularly undertaken. These are usually focused on the operational response with a vague mention of ‘doing something with the media or social media’ if you are lucky. Taking part in these does help but there has to be a more focused session that delves into the details of the crisis communication plan.
There are a number of options you can take to do this work depending on the risks you face, the team you have and the resources that are available. But every approach requires a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, what you need to test and where the plan may be challenged. Once you know that developing a scenario to test it is straightforward.
For a quick and inexpensive test just get the team together to talk through a scenario. Get them to look at what they would do to ensure a speed response, what authorisations they would seek, and how they will keep updated, involve others and share information. It has to be said that sharing information when a crisis happens is regularly one of the problem areas when reviews and debriefs assess the actions taken. Don’t underestimate the challenges to the flow of information.
If you have a bit more time and resources you could move to a tabletop exercise that requires people to do the actions as if the situation was playing out in real time. This is a great way to ensure the whole team understand their role and what is within the plan. It is often helpful to get someone external to the business to develop the scenario so that everyone is brought into it without any prior knowledge of what to expect. The element of surprise will put extra pressure on the decision making.
Finally, you can do a full crisis simulation. I am lucky to use the Conducttr software that replicates what would happen in reality. This is where the most learning will come from as messages, media questions, social media and news will be bombarding you as it does when a crisis is happening. For businesses that deal with a lot of risk, or for any issue or event that is looming, this is the best option but requires time and money.
Whatever option works for you it doesn’t really matter because it is a way to ensure that your crisis communication plan is more effective, and ready to use. Being crisis ready is about more than having a plan. It is about refining that plan, knowing that plan and being confident to use that plan.
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