Simplifying Internal Crisis Communications

Simplifying Internal Crisis Communications

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Swift, accurate communication is the most important factor in

successfully overcoming a crisis.*

* But the art of maintaining internal communication in a crisis is often overlooked.


When a crisis breaks, everyone involved in the

response must be contacted quickly, as well as those who

simply need to be made aware of the situation.


� People are contacted immediately, not an hour or more after the situation breaks.

� Valuable manpower is not tied up with call trees.

� All the right people are contacted, regardless of their location.

Critical things to be accomplished, especially in the early stages


� Confirm that people are available to fill all response team roles.

� People quickly receive correct, up-to-date information.

� Human error is not introduced in the communications.

� There are clear instructions for what happens next.


How fast are you responding?The faster your team assembles, the faster the response and resolution.


The chaotic nature of these early assemblies is an environment ripe

for errors.


During a conference call, other phones are ringing.

Static and background noise distort messages.

People talk over one another.

Clarifications aren’t always made.

People join late and drop off early.


@Email conference call summaries that contain critical decisions and task assignments often don’t get sent for more than 20 minutes after the call. Valuable time is wasted.


@Email and voicemail can be roadblocks for any crisis team trying to stay on top of a complex and changing situation.


Old-fashioned call trees can keep people tied to phones for hours.


When someone can’t be reached immediately, the call center must try again and again, sometimes over a period of hours.

This is a particular challenge when there are no alternates for the person being contacted.


You can’t expect that everyone on the crisis response team will be able to quickly assemble at a common physical location.

Ideally, it wouldn’t matter where the team members or command center personnel are located.

In today’s global economy, even small organizations are apt to have employees spread across different cities, states, and even countries.


During the response, the pressure is on and responsive communication becomes more important and even more of a challenge.

The response often requires frequent updates to stakeholders, information from responders, and private conference calls between decision-makers.

At this stage, people will rarely be in a single location.


A crisis is dynamicThere need to be ways to communicate accurate, timely updates to stakeholders in various locations.


Expect critical information to change, often rapidly. Details must be frequently updated to ensure resources are managed properly and stakeholders are kept in the loop.


Not every person will be reachable in the same manner.

Some might be reachable via

� mobile phone voice

� mobile phone SMS text

� landline phone voice

� email

� or even pager (yes, they’re still in use)


Overcoming the challenges

How you communicate with stakeholders could make the difference between swiftly containing an incident and creating a media circus.

One way to ensure accuracy of messages is to develop message templates in advance.


�Create a list of the types of business disruptions you might face, everything from routine operations issues to major disasters. Consider the expected (e.g. loss of electricity) as well as the unexpected or rare (tornado).

Creating message templates


For each scenario, define the specific people and groups who need to be notified at various stages of the crisis. This includes those involved in the response, as well as stakeholders who simply need to be informed.

�


�Determine how teams will be structured for the purposes of communications. Are there several people who can fill a role on a team, or just one person? Is there a hierarchy of roles?


Craft initial and follow-up messages that will be sent to each group of people.

Identify the preferred communication devices for each person on the recipient lists.

Identify alternate contacts for key roles and the roles needed for each team.

�

�

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These steps will make it easier and faster to assemble the right people on your teams when some can’t be reached or can’t be available.

They will also reduce the likelihood of human error when messages are sent.


There are various technologies that can significantly improve communications in time-sensitive situations.

An automated messaging solution can convey precise information to hundreds or even thousands within a few minutes, regardless of the communications devices used by each person.


Choose a secure system that allows authorized stakeholders to directly input updates without an intermediary. This reduces delays and increases accuracy, as well as widening the scope of information available.

It’s critical that the system be simple to use and that it supports templates for the various scenarios that you developed in advance.


The system should also have automation features such as dynamic teams based on roles, alternates, and escalated alerts. This can save a great deal of valuable time.

The right solution will greatly reduce the likelihood of human error and ensure that the right messages are sent to the right people and devices.


Coordinating the response


Crisis communications systems are not created equal.


For instance, many emergency notification systems do not have the ability to record voice alerts, use GIS mapping to define recipients, or send different messages in one alert to voice, SMS text and email.


An ideal crisis communications system will notify your people, provide a means of centralized team communication, have the right program documents and plans at the ready, monitor task progress, and provide a 24/7 crisis coordination center for all stakeholders, regardless of location.


This ensures that staff can move into their crisis management roles as quickly as possible.


Use a Web-based crisis communications center, instead of a ragtag network of email and phones.

Then you’ll have a responsive crisis management force that can focus their attention on the tasks at hand, and not be held back by communications issues.


Crises are difficult. Crisis management software shouldn’t be.™

Situation Center™

Streamlined, simple-to-use incident management software.

� Messaging center� Event log� Task management� Emergency notification� Documents library� Forms, and more

Notification Center™ Smarter emergency notification software that automates time-consuming manual processes.

EarShot™

Beyond notification. Rich, interactive mobile messaging that includes forms, photos and GPS location services.



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Simplifying Internal Crisis Communications

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Simplifying Internal Crisis Communications

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