Whether natural cata­strophe, theft or a cy­ber­at­tack – no company is safe from a crisis. They often occur un­ex­pec­tedly, mess up day-to-day op­er­a­tions, and in the worst-case scenario threaten jobs and the existence of a company. To maintain a cool head during these times and make the right decisions, ex­ec­ut­ives should draft a crisis man­age­ment plan. This specifies scenarios that could become a threat for staff and the business as a whole. The plan also includes in­di­vidu­al action items for suc­cess­ful crisis man­age­ment. We’ll show you how to create an effective crisis man­age­ment plan.

Why do you need a crisis man­age­ment plan?

Every founder knows how important a good business plan can be that details corporate ideas and their im­ple­ment­a­tions. A crisis man­age­ment plan, on the other hand, is often given less attention. That’s in part because it deals with some of the worst-case and often im­prob­able scenarios. People in charge like to avoid these topics and some threats simply go un­der­rated. But budding business owners should take re­spons­ib­il­ity for their staff and face up to likely risks. That’s where a crisis man­age­ment plan comes in handy.

A crisis man­age­ment plan should be drafted ahead of an emergency. In this way, you can quickly consult the plan and assign personnel to take action that defuses the situation. A crisis man­age­ment plan helps busi­nesses to react swiftly. How well a plan prepares you for difficult times will depend on how much time you spend creating it. Realistic sim­u­la­tions of a company un­der­go­ing emer­gen­cies can be helpful. We’ll show you how to structure a business crisis man­age­ment plan.

Part I: What’s the purpose of the crisis man­age­ment plan?

A crisis man­age­ment plan must be made available in a written format. You should retain physical and digital copies that are easily ac­cess­ible. The purpose of the document should be stated in its opening paragraph. This can take the form of a short statement and informs the reader about the function of the document and when it should be used. Decide on re­spons­ible members of staff who form part of a crisis team. Ensure that no single person is in charge, but your team consists of members with different skills and shared re­spons­ib­il­it­ies. The image below shows an example of a purpose paragraph:

Tip

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Part II: What types of emer­gen­cies are there?

Busi­nesses can become victim to a plethora of different types of emer­gen­cies. Each and every challenge is unique and demands context-dependent action. The next part of a crisis man­age­ment plan should define crisis situ­ations that may pose a threat to your company. These include bad weather damages to office buildings, medical emer­gen­cies, and threats to your repu­ta­tion. Here are some examples:

Critical failures – include emer­gen­cies caused by forces of nature or people. Examples include cata­strophes such as earth­quakes or flooding, fires, theft, fraud, cyber or terrorism attacks. Con­tra­ven­tion which could lead to sus­pen­sion, closure, legal pro­sec­u­tion or high fines should also be included.

Medical emer­gen­cies – can become critical if a company (or its locations) endanger the health of others. This could be the case where, for example, event par­ti­cipants get food poisoning from the catering provided on-site. Other medical emer­gen­cies include the spread of illnesses, bio­lo­gic­al threats, and health or life-threat­en­ing situ­ations.

Attacks on repu­ta­tion and integrity – can quickly turn into an ex­ist­en­tial threat for most busi­nesses if they are not im­me­di­ately defused. This includes any situation that could harm the repu­ta­tion of a company or lead to consumer boycott. One example of this are the spread of media rumours and negative press. Other examples include malicious de­fam­a­tion and repu­ta­tion­al damage or negative media reaction to class action lawsuits and legal cases. Mal­prac­tice from managers also threatens the image and integrity of a company.

In the second part of your crisis man­age­ment plan list the emergency scenarios which could pose a possible threat to your company:

Tip

Crisis marketing - tips for gaining new customers, sending out marketing messages, un­cov­er­ing new dis­tri­bu­tion channels and more in our Digital Guide article.

Part III: The com­mu­nic­a­tions protocol during crisis

During an emergency it’s important to react as swiftly as possible to minimise long-term damage and negative con­sequences. Create a list of the most important people to contact and their contact details. The com­mu­nic­a­tions chain should list the person to contact first at the top:

To make things even easier for your crisis team during an emergency, list the role and function of each contact person alongside their job title. In this way, you can reach out to the right person during a specific emergency. For example, during a cyber-attack you can im­me­di­ately contact a seasoned IT spe­cial­ist. Company staff that form part of your internal and external com­mu­nic­a­tions de­part­ment should have their own crisis com­mu­nic­a­tion plan at the ready. This can be created sep­ar­ately or form part of a business crisis man­age­ment plan. The guidelines of crisis com­mu­nic­a­tion dictate which in­form­a­tion should be shared and when. It also includes in­form­a­tion on final decision-makers.

Note

A crisis com­mu­nic­a­tion plan is a dynamic document. This means that it undergoes constant revision and updating to ensure it remains usable during an emergency.

Part IV: Create effective action plan

The core of the crisis com­mu­nic­a­tion plan consists of ac­tion­able pro­ced­ures matched to the critical scenarios defined in part two. In this part, list step-by-step action items that can defuse the situation. During an emergency, this will take away some of the pressure of having to make quick decisions and you can focus on the im­ple­ment­a­tion instead. Sometimes it’s useful to consult experts to estimate the risk to the business. This is par­tic­u­larly useful where a company faces problems that aren’t yet clas­si­fied as critical.

When creating a crisis man­age­ment plan, consider which reactions are realistic and easily real­is­able. Solutions should never cross legal or ethical bound­ar­ies. Cost savings should not be con­sidered if they endanger pro­duc­tion quality or security. By using sim­u­la­tions, you can decide whether actions are likely effective or if changes are necessary. This is par­tic­u­larly important for evac­u­ations or other security measures which depend on the suc­cess­ful co­oper­a­tion of all members of staff.

Con­clu­sion

The more extensive and elaborate a crisis man­age­ment plan is, the better a company will be prepared in case of an emergency. So, take your time to consider and work out different strategies. Only then are you able to react quickly and well-con­sidered during a crisis to avert damage to your business.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.

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