The crisis team and crisis room: a guide to getting the basics right

Chris Woodcock, managing director of Crisis Communications Consultancy Razor.

If the first 24 hours of a crisis are important, the first hour is vital. Reacting quickly positions a company as efficient and responsible. More importantly, it seizes the initiative and places the company in control. Taking control and operating transparently in that first hour requires trained crisis management personnel with the materials in place to work effectively. It should be simple. It is not difficult. But there are no short cuts.

The right people in the right place are crucial. This article outlines what a crisis team and crisis room would ideally include. Implementing every element will not always be possible but the closer plans get to this ‘ideal’, the better prepared the business will be.

Crisis training every employee would be prohibitively expensive, unworkable and ineffective. The solution is a dedicated crisis team, representing key business functions, with well established lines of internal communication. Not everyone can handle a crisis – but everyone should know who can.

Central to the process is the crisis co-ordinator; a vital role that will normally be given to a senior figure. The co-ordinator works with colleagues and external agencies to develop the crisis management programme and ensures that all plans and facilities are maintained, updated and tested regularly. When a crisis strikes, it will often be the co-ordinator that calls the team into action.

Creating a crisis team that works effectively is a complex and sometimes political task. Personalities must be matched with specific roles; there must be broad business knowledge and expertise; and the most senior figure is not always the best suited to the job.

Consider covering business functions such as human resources, legal, marketing, finance and production, but bear in mind that a crisis team should ideally include no more than five or six people. Each team member must have a nominated deputy and provision should be made for a senior manager to run the rest of the business when a crisis is being handled.

Training the team is crucial and will require input from a specialist consultant. Good training will include advice and preparing media materials, help the team control the flow of information and establish appropriate roles and priorities. Above all, it equips the team with the skills and materials to react appropriately and quickly. It must also include media training for spokespeople.

Talking to the media without training can be a minefield (in fact most crisis manual demand that unless media trained, people should not talk to the press at all). Media spokespeople should be trained at least once a year to have the confidence to be the ‘human’ face of the company when it is under the most intense scrutiny.

Remember also that the team will require administrative support in drafting press releases, faxes, e-mails and a host of other communications.

With a trained crisis team in place, providing an environment in which to work is the next step. The middle of a crisis is no place to organise the administrative minutiae of phone lines, faxes and computers.

Top of the list is a designated crisis room. This should be located to allow the crisis to be managed without affecting, or being affected by, the normal running of the business. It should be in a secure location away from inquisitive journalists or demonstrators.

Consider equipment that will be needed. Ample telephone and fax lines, whiteboards, maps and site plans should be available (and locked away to prevent them being ‘borrowed’ by other departments). There should be a television, radio and video player and access to the Internet if possible.

Ideally, the crisis room should have an adjacent press office with word processing, fax and phone facilities and press lists. If space allows, consider allocating a quiet area: having a sanctuary in which to prepare vital materials can make a big difference.

Away from the crisis room, make provision for interviews and press conferences. Press conference venues should include theatre-style seating and an exit that allows speakers to leave without being pursued. Presentation resources should be available, as should shelves for media materials. Most importantly the room should be close to a main entrance (and consider what journalists will see as they walk through the building).

Some camera crews will want to conduct interviews using the site as a background – so make sure you are prepared – identify a suitable location with a favourable backdrop.

Ideally, having made all these provisions, an off-site emergency back-up should be identified. The best equipped crisis room is redundant if you are forced to evacuate the building.

Preparation such as this is the key to successful crisis management, but when a crisis strikes, how should the team react? It would be impossible to cover here what will often take two or more days of training, but the basics should be clear:

Establish your roles. A team leader and media spokesperson will have been identified but consider a ‘devil’s advocate’ to challenge decisions and a ‘humanist’ to look at the human impact. A nominated incident recorder is vital, particularly if a crisis is likely to be followed by any kind of inquiry or legal action.

Act quickly. Gather information and prepare a holding statement, a strategy and action plan. Speed is of the essence. Brief internal audiences and if necessary call in an expert – a service offered by Razor’s network of crisis partners and specialists. Identify your audiences and COMMUNICATE.

Preparing the crisis team requires commitment, a lot of hard work and good training. It is a challenging task, but a team of training crisis experts and a well equipped crisis room in place, you are ready to fact that crucial first hour.

•Date: 31st October 2005 •Region: UK/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis management
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