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At the core of the crisis team, where the current situation is shared, impact is assessed, bottlenecks are identified, and decisions are forged, there exists an imperturbable link that brings calm and structure. This is the story of the logger: the silent hero who, more than anyone, understands that under the intense pressure of a crisis meeting, a well-maintained logbook can make the difference between chaos and control.
Logging involves documenting crisis meetings. This task is performed by the crisis team's logger. The logger concisely and concretely records what is discussed during the various phases of decision-making. This includes situation assessment (what is the current situation), judgment formation (impact, bottlenecks, and potential scenarios), and decision-making (decisions and actions). Additionally, the logger tracks the status of actions, indicating whether they are 'in progress' or 'completed', for example.
The importance of logging in crisis management cannot be overstated. I elaborate on this in this blog post, but for completeness, I will summarize it below.
A logbook:
In practice, the logger is sometimes merely perceived as a silent note-taker, which is far from ideal. The logger should, in fact, be a fully-fledged team member. An effective logger is articulate (thus, not a 'silent' hero in that sense) and does not hesitate to speak up when matters are unclear or when team members risk overlooking crucial steps in the decision-making process. A proficient logger plays an active role in supporting the chairperson in guiding the meeting process. In essence, the logger acts as the guardian of the structure and completeness of the recorded information.
The logger and the information manager fulfill distinct yet complementary roles within crisis management and information management. While the logger focuses on documenting the crisis meetings themselves, the information manager's primary focus is on coordinating and managing all information throughout a crisis. Consequently, the information manager plays a crucial role both before and after crisis meetings.
Prior to the crisis meeting, the information manager is responsible for collecting and aggregating information from both internal sources within the organization (such as departments and other crisis teams) and external sources (such as the situational awareness report prepared by the communications department and current information from the National Crisis Management System (LCMS)). This serves as input for the crisis team's situation assessment during meetings.
Following the crisis meeting, the information manager is responsible for creating an up-to-date overview; a type of management summary detailing the latest status. This summary can be shared with the entire crisis organization and, if necessary, with other stakeholders. The logbook maintained by the logger also serves as a reliable source of information, covering everything from the current situation to decisions made and actions taken. Together, the logger and the information manager ensure a well-organized flow of information throughout the entire crisis situation.
An effective crisis team, supported by a competent logger, benefits from structure, clarity, and a collective memory. This silent hero therefore deserves recognition as an indispensable team member in every crisis situation.
