Crisis is a word you will hear a lot when it comes to business continuity.
So what is a crisis?
A crisis is:
- Unexpected
- Hard to manage
- Very serious indeed
There are four crucial aspects of crisis…
Sudden crisis
This Happens without warning
Escalates rapidly
Has a high profile & impact
Slow-onset crises
Sometimes referred to as smouldering or rising tide
Hard to see coming
Can be easily overlooked, misunderstood or denied
Originating from inside
Many organisations contain seeds of a crisis. This could be malicious actions, theft, fraud or arson.
Imposed from outside
Not directly within companies control. For example tampering with a supermarkets products before they hit the shelves.
Top Tip:
Effective management requires you to:
- Assess possible threats and gain different perspectives from staff across various departments in your business to do the same.
- Implement the appropriate measures to address the issues. Perhaps you’re prepared to live with issues for now. However you need a plan to handle events if they suddenly give rise to a crisis.
- Keep looking:
Inside at the issues you identified to check that they are still manageable.
Outside to check that events which may trigger attentions and the potential spotlight of unwanted publicity are handled correctly and avoided where possible.
Case Study – When an issue becomes a crisis…
Recently an environmental organisation skilfully opposed the disposal of an oil storage platform. The pressure group used the media to portray the oil company as environmentally irresponsible using footage of water cannons to great effect. The response from the oil company was to focus on the scientific rationale for the plan, the consultation measures it had implemented and its adherence to legal process. The oil company took many weeks to realise in fact the event wasn’t about scientific facts and was more about the public mood. It was about an ISSUE, and the company’s mishandling turned it into a CRISIS. The oil company ended up doing a U-turn, with its reputation seriously tarnished and at a cost of millions.
This is an example where careful reflexion and monitoring of situations from more than one perspective can help a business avoid a crisis
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