Structure as the foundation for crisis management

The term "crisis organization" refers to the organizational structure in place during a crisis. This structure may differ from the usual setup, meaning that employees may assume different roles or perform tasks that differ from their daily duties. This can, of course, lead to chaos. It is therefore important to establish the structure of a crisis organization—or the organizational chart—during the preparatory phase.

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The next question, of course, is: How do you determine the structure of a crisis management team, and what factors should you consider? 

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Below is a rough outline (example) of a crisis management structure. At the top is the crisis management team, followed by the various operational teams. Which operational teams are included in the organizational chart naturally depends on your organization.

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To determine both the general structure of your crisis management organization and the more detailed crisis management organizational chart, you can follow the steps below: 

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1. Identify the key members of the crisis management team. These are the individuals who are always part of the crisis management team, regardless of the type of crisis, such as the chairperson or the recorder.
2. For each type of crisis, determine which additional team members (such as experts) should join the crisis management team.
3. Next, determine which operational teams are important and which team members should be included in each operational team.

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For more information on the how, what, and why, click here to read the article. If you’d prefer to watch the video, you can find it by clicking here . We’ve also made a sample crisis management plan available. Click here to download the Crisis Plan Template.

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Using tools for crisis management

You can then use various tools to define the structure of your crisis management organization. On the left, you can see a screenshot from a demo environment within CrisisSuite.

A discipline refers to a department to which someone belongs or the role someone holds during a crisis. Within a discipline, you can see who is a member of that discipline and which teams they belong to. Examples of such teams include the crisis management team or the operational teams within the crisis organization.

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Would you like to watch the full video on structuring a crisis response team using tools?Click here.