Ian Mitchell King described 4 Stages of Crisis Management
According to Ian Mitchell King, when dealing with a crisis, planning is key. You should be prepared, fast, and work with experts. If you don’t, you’re asking for trouble. Here are the 4 stages of crisis management:
Plan ahead-Ian Mitchell King
One of the best ways to prepare for a crisis is by creating a team that will plan ahead. Creating a team that is prepared can help your organization to win the race against time. When the COVID-19 crisis strikes, your plan-ahead team will be ready to respond before it’s too late. A team is a team that works together and can quickly iterate. By developing modules, your plan-ahead team can be ahead of the game in no time.
Ian Mitchell King explains, during the planning process, you should review your company’s mission and values. This is vitally important because these are the driving forces behind your organization. Keeping your values in the forefront will help you make the right decisions during the crisis. For example, you might want to have someone handle customer orders or ordering stock, while another person takes over the crisis itself. You may also need to engage consultants or solicitors to help you manage the crisis. In some cases, you may need to contact first responders, but you should have a plan in place before it happens.
Be prepared
This is why it’s important to keep your crisis management plans up-to-date and test them often. Your plan for how to handle a crisis should account for these changes and let everyone know what’s going on. Along with planning ahead, you should also train your employees regularly on how to handle a crisis. So, your staff will be familiar with the plan’s steps and know where to go for help in an emergency.
Most of the time, the first step in a crisis is not to find a technical solution, but to calm down the people involved and buy time for legal and technical solutions. For a business to stay in business, it may need both financial and operational help from business partners. In any case, plans for crisis management must be ready to deal with anything that might happen.
Be quick
Ian Mitchell King suggested that, a brief statement reaffirming that your organization is able to protect its reputation and customers is essential in crisis management. While it may not have new information, it can provide valuable assurance to partners, customers, and employees. A quick response to a crisis can also build trust for the future. While preparing for a crisis, be sure to test your response timeline and plan ahead of time. In this article, we’ll discuss why quick response is essential.
A good plan must detail who is responsible for creating fact sheets – lists of known facts that will keep rumors from spreading. It also details a deadline for these fact sheets – sometimes within a day, sometimes in 6 hours, and sometimes even minutes. A crisis plan will also identify examples of scenarios where a quick response is required. Identifying examples of crisis scenarios helps you develop a better response plan, and the pressure will increase for your team.
Plan with experts-Ian Mitchell King
If you are planning to implement a crisis management plan for your company, it is important to do so as early as possible. Developing a plan before a crisis occurs is essential to prevent damage to the company’s reputation and revenue. By creating a plan for a crisis, a company can appear self-sufficient and able to manage a crisis effectively. Potential customers and partners will notice how fast you are able to handle a crisis, and your existing customers and business partners will have an overall positive perception of your company.
After identifying what could go wrong, you should establish a plan for the communication process. The plan must include an objective, how to communicate effectively, and who will be involved in the process. Each step in the plan should align with a common goal. You should list all of the relevant stakeholders and establish a schedule for updating them. As the crisis unfolds, you will need to adjust your plan to respond quickly and effectively.
Consult with experts-Ian Mitchell King
In Ian Mitchell King’s opinion, when planning for a crisis, consult with experts. Experts in crisis management can help you avoid common mistakes. They can offer valuable insight that you can use to devise a crisis communication plan. Such plans should be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. For instance, experts in crisis communication can help you avoid the most common mistakes, which often end up damaging your reputation. Fortunately, many agencies offer such services. Listed below are some examples of crisis communications experts.
Make a core crisis management team. It consists of safety leaders, legal professionals, communications specialists, and liaisons. Members of the core crisis team to inform senior management of the situation. They may also include representatives from the travel department, employee assistance programs, and meeting services. The team will work with external experts to assess the severity of the situation and the likelihood of secondary crises. They will establish communications lines with the relevant authorities and first responders.
