Structure as the foundation for crisis management

The crisis organization is a term used to denote the organizational structure during a crisis. This structure may differ, leading employees to assume different roles or perform tasks compared to their daily activities. This can naturally lead to chaos. Therefore, it is crucial to define the structure of a crisis organization, or its organizational chart, during the preparatory phase.

‍

The next logical question is: How can you determine the structure of a crisis organization, and what factors should be considered? 

‍

Below is a general structure (example) of a crisis organization. At the top is the crisis management team, followed by various operational teams. The specific operational teams included in the organizational chart will, of course, depend on your organization.

‍

‍

To determine both the general structure of your crisis organization and the more detailed crisis organizational chart, the following steps can be taken: 

‍

1. Identify the key figures within the crisis management team. These are the individuals who are always part of the crisis management team, regardless of the crisis type, such as the chairperson or the logger.
2. For each type of crisis, determine which additional team members (e.g., experts) should join the crisis management team.
3. Subsequently, determine which operational teams are essential and which team members should be assigned to each operational team.

‍

For more information on the how, what, and why, click here for the article. If you prefer to watch the video, you can find it by clicking here. We have also made an example crisis management plan available. Click here to download the Crisis Plan Template.

‍

Utilizing Tools for Crisis Organization

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.

‍

‍

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