Crisis Management Planning Services
The key to crisis preparedness is to build an organizational capability around crisis management. We help our clients prepare for crises using three key steps to assess risks to an organization and develop actionable crisis management plans. A crisis is, by definition, unpredictable. Having a crisis management plan in place before a crisis arises aligns teams on operating norms and strategic priorities, messaging, provides clarity on roles and responsibilities, and reduces the time to action, which is critical in any crisis response.
Anticipate: Identify and assess the risks facing an organization, encompassing both intrinsic risks and external risks. Discuss potential opportunities to mitigate risks.
Align: Using a workshop or series of workshops, create an agreed-upon framework for characterizing risks and putting in place the right response activities.
Prepare: Put in place monitoring and communications protocols, and draft materials that can facilitate fast and efficient engagement on crises if and when they take place.
Anticipate
We use two methods to understand the risks our clients may face: landscape analysis and leadership in-depth interviews (IDIs).
The landscape analysis can help us see what risks have come to light in the past, as well as potential issues for the future. We structure our process so that the IDIs follow the landscape analysis, allowing us to be up to speed on relevant issues as we discuss them with leaders. In those interviews, we gain a depth of understanding of the issues, while also developing a quantitative scorecard for crisis events based on a) their likelihood of occurrence and b) their potential impact on the organization.
We rate risks across four dimensions: stakeholder, operational and environmental. These categories ensure we cast a wide net for potential issues.
The activities in this stage yield a risk assessment deliverable that outlines potential risks and implications for future preparedness.
Align
Based on the findings from our Anticipate phase, we run a workshop with key communications team leaders and other relevant functional leaders to align on priority issues and how they should be characterized.
This workshop – or series of workshops – focuses on two key tools. The first is our issues stratification matrix (illustrative example below). We bring in brief descriptions of the potential issues identified in our IDIs and landscape research to ensure the team is on the same page about what the issues represent.
We also discuss the team’s expectations for roles and responsibilities in crisis response.
Prepare
With issues clearly ranked and scenarios defined, we create a crisis “playbook” that contains a set of protocols and draft materials. These materials address stakeholder outreach, message development and internal communications protocols. Creating the infrastructure around crisis and issues management helps our clients to be well positioned to seize the opportunity when crises arise.