It’s not uncommon for a business crisis to hit you, and it usually happens when you least expect it. You need to be prepared with a crisis management plan. That’s why it’s a good idea to think about how you would deal with a crisis and climb out of it as quickly as possible for the good of your business. If you manage to do this, you will be able to ensure that your business always stays on the right track and is never put in too much danger.
How to create Crisis Management Plan
A Crisis Management Plan (CMP) is a document that describes the processes that a company will use to respond to a critical situation that would negatively affect an organization’s profitability, reputation, or operating ability to operate. CMPs are used by business continuity * teams, emergency management, crisis management, and damage assessment teams. In this case, the goal is to avoid or minimize damage.**
A crisis – a serious negative event – almost always requires that decisions be made quickly to limit the damage to the organization. Potential crises include natural disasters, fraud, embezzlement, theft, accidents such as fire, explosion, terrorist attack, acts of workplace violence, loss of power or system failure.
A crisis management plan provides a well-documented set of responses to potential critical situations. Planning allows the affected organization to act quickly if a serious incident occurs.
An effective crisis management plan must:
1. Identify the members of the team that will make up the group or the Crisis Committee to be activated in the event of a serious event that threatens the company;
2. Document what criteria will be used to determine a crisis. Obs. Each company or organization must carry out a very thorough survey to classify the types and intensity of events that can be classified as “severe crisis” threats, including the potential severity;
3. Establish monitoring systems and practices to detect early warning signs of any potential crisis, the so-called “red flags”. This is also true for social media;
4. Indicate who will be the spokesperson in case of crisis, including a substitute, both prepared and trained. Needless to say, they must be trained in Media Training;
5. Provide a list of key emergency contacts to be located quickly, including weekends, holidays, overnight, no matter where they are;
6. Document that will need to be notified in case of crisis and how this notification will be done;
7. Identify a process to assess the incident and its potential seriousness, and assess the impact on facilities and employees;
8. Identify procedures to respond to the crisis and emergency meeting points where employees can go, also taking into account a possible interdiction due to an accident or invasion; have an alternative “B” for meeting;
9. Organize a simulation process to test the effectiveness of the crisis management plan and update it regularly.
Depending on the industry, a crisis management plan may also be known as a business continuity action plan, a disaster recovery plan, a contingency plan, or a scenario plan.
How to climb out of a business crisis quickly
Have money to fall back on
First of all, you need to make sure that your business has some money that it’s capable of falling back on when times are tough. If you don’t have that cash available to you, you will just make your life more difficult than it ought to be. Sometimes, it takes a lot of money to pull your business out of the whole you find it in. No one enjoys throwing money at their business problems, but sometimes there is no other way forward. So, create a reservoir of money that you can dip into and make use of only when the times are really tough and you need help.
Know where to go for temporary staffing
Staffing issues are among the most common problems that businesses face. And these issues can quickly become crises if you don’t act fast. After all, what can your business do without employees? It will very quickly grind to a halt. You should already have a very solid staffing and employment plan in place. But there is nothing wrong with also having a backup plan too. Find a reliable company that offers temporary staffing, and be sure that you can call on them whenever necessary. If you know that you can always use temporary staff, you will have less to worry about.
Have a good PR executive in place
Having someone in your office who understands how to handle a crisis from a press and public relations point of view is vital. If there is some kind of scandal or a negative story in the news, you need to know how to neutralise it and make sure that it doesn’t damage the business. If you haven’t yet employed a PR executive, this is something that is definitely looking into in the months and years ahead. It’s the kind of step that can make a real different and make your business better able to deal with whatever’s thrown at it.
Trust people around you and delegate better
If you have a solid and reliable team of people around you, your job of running your business and getting through times of crisis will be so much easier. You will be able to rely on their judgement and listen to their expertise when a crisis or even a minor problem arises. This can be key. And you should also become more willing to delegate to people. You will never get your business out of a crisis fast if you are trying to do everything by yourself.
