Crisis Management Plan - Development, Part 2

The structured development, formulation, implementation and operating strategy as well as on-going enhancement of a comprehensive Crisis Management Plan typically involves the following five sequential phases:

The above five sequential steps are expanded in detail in the following sub-section. It is important to note that this is a generic approach and an actual crisis management program could involve either substantially fewer task segments, specialized activities or even more task modules.

The following is an overview of a sequential process suitable for formulating and implementing a comprehensive Crisis Management Plan. The sequential process is composed of various phases and task modules.

The following summary should not be construed as the definitive answer for all organizations, but typical of a major multi-location corporation. Even in a small or medium organization many of the following task modules must be considered if an effective crisis management plan is to become operationally effective.

Crisis Criteria Development

Assessment Analysis

Plan Formulation

Plan Implementation

Plan Maintenance

The Crisis Management Plan Organization chart Exhibit 10.1 illustrates a typical authority chain of command as well as committee operations, task assignments and responsibilities. The chart is for hypothetical manufacturing and distribution firm and is not necessarily considered to be the panacea for all organizations.

Plan responsibilities should normally function independently of each other prior to, during and following a crisis situation. Exhibit 10.1 is representative of a major crisis management plan which proceeds through the formulation and implementation stages and is considered to be an on-going operational mode.

The chart delineates the Crisis Management committee reliance upon the Policy statement, operational Manual and Emergency Response Teams and identifies the various responsibilities and task assignments. There are four recommended Crisis Management Plan task responsibility categories: (1) pre-crisis contingency planning, (2) response strategy action guides, (3) operations during a crisis impairment and (4) recovery plan and restoration tasks. For specific details concerning task activities, refer to Exhibit 10.2.

Exhibit 10.2 provides examples of task activities in a comprehensive corporate crisis management plan:

The previously identified responsibilities and assignment tasks are typical of what is appropriate in a major operating Crisis Management Committee. These plan activities may be narrow in scope or, in the major corporations, may be comprehensive in nature.

Crisis management plan formulation and implementation in a large organization represents a major project undertaking. It is recommended that one of the proven and accepted project management systems be utilized. It is important that the project involve scheduling techniques which indicate timing, plan progress, status reports, project problems and deviation. The prevalent management oriented scheduling techniques used in the application of recovery plans are PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method).

One of the most effective ways to manage a project is use of a desk top computer application using Microsoft Project Version 4.0 for Windows. Advantages include the resource usage view and resource graphs which tend to balance the recovery workloads against project assignments, thus allowing for identification of budget constraints and estimated on-going costs of the project. Reports are generally produced on a calendar frequency which interfaces with identified project needs. (Please note that this is not to imply that there are not other comparable software programs designed for project management).

Management of the Crisis Management Program in a large, multi-location organization is dependent upon provision of adequate procedures and the ability to adapt to any unusual or unique local problems. Exhibit 10.3 represents a hypothetical organization chart illustrating a geographically widespread Crisis Management Plan appropriate for a major organization.

The following chart identifies the operational authority, chain of command, general responsibilities and specific task assignments for a multi-location operation. Crisis Management Plan reliance upon the Crisis Management Procedure manual as well as corporate and crisis management policy statements is clearly delineated as well as executive authority as derived from the Board of Directors, Executive Committee.

In the hypothetical multi-location organization chart, Exhibit 10.3, the Crisis Management Committee with responsibility of the operation becomes the Executive Crisis Management Committee. Each physical location has a Crisis Management Committee to address local responsibilities. The Emergency Response Team is composed of local staff and should be prepared for anticipated problems associated with the operation. If the operation, such as in a petrochemical facility is twenty-four hours a day, then there should be a fully competent Emergency Response Team organized on each work shift.