Introduction
“Are you 100% confident that you and your organization are prepared? If not, where do you start?”
Simply put, the best way of dealing with a crisis is to avoid one in the first place. But if crises are inevitable due to a growing number of factors including terrorism, then you and your organization need to identify all vulnerabilities and map out possible crisis scenarios.
Effective strategic crisis management depends on sound and swift decision-making, and neither can happen without corporate-wide and multi-agency pre-planning. Rushed strategic management decisions, incorrect statements, actions, or inactions have caused many of the most newsworthy business crises during or following an event.
Effective strategic crisis management begins with effective decision-making. In an emergency, the first major decisions made regarding how to handle the unfolding situation are almost always the most important ones. Good initial decisions can make even a catastrophe manageable; bad decisions can fatally exacerbate an otherwise small problem. The window of opportunity for initial decision-making is extremely small and closes rapidly. Once the moment has passed, it does not return.
Your strategic corporate response must be coordinated and effective, your crisis management teams pre-identified and fully trained.
Objectives
Delegates attending will:
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Acquire in-depth knowledge of the key aspects of strategic crisis management.
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Learn how to identify incidents and crises to cultivate and harness potential successes.
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Learn how to avoid mismanagement at the incident site and prevent worsening situations.
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Learn how to generate ownership and responsibility among stakeholders.
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Learn how to recognize and prioritize issues affecting corporate reputation during and after crises.
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Learn the fundamentals of organizing and managing crisis or emergency control centres.
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Learn how to plan and manage multi-agency exercises.
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Gain step-by-step guidance on validating plans, improving staff ownership, augmenting training programs, and raising awareness.
Course Process
This program offers executives a series of tools and frameworks for improving their ability to lead strategically and enhance organizational resilience when faced with a crisis. We will examine past crises over the last decade, analyze risks, and explore incidents from natural, technological, and terrorist causes.
Benefits
The program identifies driving forces, warning signals, uncertainties, and inevitabilities. Participants will identify challenges and elicit responses through informal strategic conversations. This stimulates detailed verbal reactions by decision-makers and examines organizational responses to unexpected crises.
Competencies
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Evaluate organizational risks and vulnerabilities.
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Develop communication and reputation management strategies.
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Develop strategies for contingency planning and business continuity.
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Adopt a strategic mindset for managing crises.
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Implement strategic changes in crisis management programs.
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Empower pre-identified crisis response team members.
Outlines
The program is interactive with case studies and group exercises. It covers the four stages of crisis management: Preparation, Planning, Response, and Recovery.
Day 1: What should be in place before the event?
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Understanding crisis management.
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How to manage a crisis.
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Risks: natural, technological, human error, sabotage, terrorism.
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Crisis manager roles and responsibilities.
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Evaluating risks and vulnerabilities.
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Understanding denial-curve and group-think syndromes.
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Decision-making in the hot seat.
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Case studies on failures and successes.
Day 2: Pre-planning
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Who owns the mitigation process?
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Emergency plan development and implementation.
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Twelve-point checklist for planning.
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Mutual aid arrangements.
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Strategic contingency plans.
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Building evacuation plans.
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Crisis communications and emergency centres.
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Business Continuity Management strategy.
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Business impact analysis with case study.
Day 3: Crisis Communications
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Command and control at operational, tactical, and strategic levels.
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On-scene crisis management essentials.
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Reputation management and media handling.
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Organizing press conferences.
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Conducting interviews.
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Crisis communications strategy workshop.
Day 4: Incident Management & Aftermath
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Alerting and warning.
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Case studies including Texas City disasters.
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Major incident simulation workshop.
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Psychological and welfare issues in crisis management.
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Supporting staff morale and well-being.
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Managing stress during and after crises.
Day 5: Post-incident Actions
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Validating plans and procedures.
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Types of exercises and maximizing benefits.
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Post-incident evaluations.
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Debriefing techniques.
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Keeping stakeholders informed.
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Writing critique reports and recommendations.
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Continuing the process.
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Case study: Buncefield Oil Depot disaster.