The profile of crisis management in 2022

As we look into 2022 we’ve had two years of the pandemic and in general the profile of crisis management professionals during this period has been been enhanced. Senior Crisis Management Teams (CMTs) have leaned heavily on their crisis managers to provide guidance and support particularly in the early phases of the pandemic. So looking forward, ‘How Can We’ and ‘Why Should We’ maintain this profile?

To answer the ‘Why’ I was reminded of a TV series I watched recently - ‘Designated Survivor’. Kiefer Sutherland suddenly ascends from University Professor to become US president after everyone ahead of him in the line of succession is killed in a terrorist attack. Due to his inexperience he needed to surround himself with people who understood the the process and workings of government and he could ask the ‘stupid questions’.

In our world, the ‘Presidents’, are the CEOs and COOs who often Chair our senior CMTs. Firms often fall into the trap of assuming that because the CMT Chair is typically the CEO or COO they will be fantastic at leading a crisis. We forget that a crisis response is not their day job so the process will be unfamiliar to them. However senior they are, they need help with the process to optimise a crisis response or they will ‘wing it’.

At Crisis Solutions our view of best practice is for the CMT to be supported by a Crisis Co-ordinator and Crisis Recorder to support the response. The Crisis Co-Ordinator will be the guardian of the crisis response process and support to the Chair to:

• Record key information, decisions, delegated actions and task owners.

• During ‘Round Table Reviews’ ensure that all delegated actions are reviewed and actioned on time.

• Support the Chair: reminding them of crisis management process and the agenda and content of plans, where appropriate.

• Ensure the Strategic Objective is agreed and disseminated to all teams.

• Share Status Reports and other items of critical information between teams.

The Incident Recorder will:

• Capture incoming information in the Incident Log.

• Record important developments, actions & decisions and annotate with a time stamp.

• Provide an incident audit trail.

• Create Status Reports.

To answer the ‘How’ in maintaining your team’s profile it is worth regularly reminding the CMT of the support you will give them in an incident. It is important the CMT understands the support available so they don’t dive into a crisis without following the agreed process. The CMT will value the support offered and the response will be enhanced.

So why not take the initiative in early 2022 of reminding the CMT of the great support you will provide should a new crisis hit your organisation?

Have a great 2022.