This is the third piece in our Resilience by Design blog. It’s part of EkaLore’s writings on strategic issues for enterprises, which we categorize as the quest for Agility, Resilience, and Sustainability.
Communications (Well, really the lack of it!) is a constant complaint for any enterprise that’s had a crisis. All the different types of stakeholders need communications. The management of messaging and ordering is just a mess in a rushed confused environment. Steps to take if not well planned of time:
1) Set priorities for who has to be updated and how often. Stick to the schedule even if the communication is not more than “nothing directly affects you” and “here’s the updates that you need”.
2) Set centralized people dedicated just to communicating, clarifying, and answer questions. Every interruption for communications will only delay, confuse, and obfuscate what’s needed and when. Put aside BIG resources for this part of the team – with multiple mediums (see additional release) This group doesn’t have to perform the work – it has to communicate with everyone affected!
3) Communications between people working on a crisis need to have special profiles. Groups needing simultaneous communications will cut across many of the ‘rules’ that normally divide staff areas (hierarchies, silos, functional areas, external/internal, etc).
4) Pick people to manage/communicate critical resources – cash!, triggers for insurance adjusters/providers, key investors/financial to help (especially those with resources to help), and keep a list of *special* helpers (retirees, designers of plant/equipment/systems/infrastructure, etc)—critical expertise resources
5) Authentication and authorization are critical. It’s not that you have the right words, codes, and access – are the lists available to people in a rush when they need them? (Stored offsite, external high-security services, activation based services, etc.)
6) Sound complicated and costly? YES! It’s a crisis and those are the elements making it a crisis.
Clear lines of authority are important. Personalities, special backgrounds (military, law enforcement, senior management, plant managers, etc), and people who are trusted make all the difference. There simply isn’t going to be time to argue – too much to do and likely not enough resources. Assigning dedicated resources (as quickly as possible if not done ahead of time) is critical. Even if done on-the-fly clear divisions and clear resources are critical.
And an important thing to know – your enterprise will be missing key people and key expertise just when it’s needed. Vacations, injuries (worst case), conflicts (such as handling a family issue right now) and turnover will change plans just at the wrong times – Murphy will be no stranger. So, pick backups for each role you plan (or have to pick in a hurry) – and cover 7x24 for real emergency scenarios.
EkaLore has written many articles about resilience, as well as the related concepts of Agility and Sustainability. You can read other entries at www.ekalore.com/ars
If you’re looking for advice on how to improve your organization’s resilience set up a 20-minute free consultation with a senior analyst. We’ll be happy to share a few ideas with you!
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