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You can think of a crisis as a project. Both are temporary. They have a beginning and an end. And they need to be managed. The only difference is that the pressure is much higher during a crisis.
A crisis affects every department and process in your organization. Normal business operations come under pressure or grind to a complete halt. The organization’s entire focus shifts to managing the crisis.
Because employees have to perform different tasks than usual, a different temporary organizational structure is also needed: a crisis management team.
The foundation of a crisis response organization is the crisis management team. This team consists of a chairperson, a recorder, and other team members, including directors, managers, and experts. This team is responsible for directing the crisis response organization and operates at the strategic level.
Depending on the type and size of the organization, other operational teams may also be required. These might include a crisis communications team, an IT team, or site-specific teams. They provide the crisis management team with information from the various sites, departments, and the outside world, and ensure that the crisis management team’s strategy is implemented.
Individuals in the crisis management team may take on roles different from their usual positions. For example, the organization may temporarily be led not by the CEO, but by a crisis manager. A communications officer may be assigned the role of environmental analyst. And a policy advisor may suddenly find themselves fulfilling the role of information manager.
Start by sketching out a rough structure for your crisis response organization. At the top of the organizational chart, you can begin by including the crisis management team. You can then place the operational teams below that. These might include communications, IT, or operational teams at different locations.
Next, decide for each team which members should be included. My advice is to establish flexible crisis teams with a core group—including the chairperson and the recorder—and then supplement them with the necessary expertise depending on the type of crisis.
In any case, make sure that the most critical roles can be filled by multiple people. A crisis can last quite a while, and it’s not a luxury to give your crisis team members a few days off and have their roles taken over by substitutes. And of course, people may be sick or on vacation… A crisis doesn’t take that into account.
With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s a good idea to take a moment to reflect on this: Can I reach the right people if things really go wrong? Will my crisis team be fully staffed? Have stand-ins for certain process owners been identified? Do they know what to do? Or would you rather leave it to chance?
We went over this again recently. Now I can start my vacation feeling much more at ease...
