If you are looking for immediate assistance in crisis planning, call our consultants at 800-875-0570.

Five Steps to a Crisis Plan

1. Sell the idea.

The hardest job is to sell top managers on needing a plan. Suggestion: Brainstorm with them about the most likely crises might be and the situations that are real possibilities. Ask them to assess the preparedness of your organization.

2. Come up with a process.

Once the idea is sold, suggest a team approach involving top managers and specialists from law, human resources, operations and other key groups. Meet at least once a month.

3. Prepare a plan.

The team needs a plan that provides for notification and sets procedures and rules for talking to the media and providing them with information. The plan should also spell out different approaches depending on the crisis (e.g. ,responding to an accident versus a strike). The plan should state company policy on communications and be applicable to field locations as well.

4. Organize a crisis center.

Your crisis center could be a corner of a conference room - it doesn't have to have blinking lights. More importantly, it should be a place where the crisis team meets regularly and monitors information.

5. Provide training/simulations.

All potential crisis participants should receive media and crisis training and regular refreshers. Crisis simulations should be held two or three times a year to keep everybody on their toes and to assess new potential problems.