Having crisis plans in place will immensely increase your chances of coming out in one piece
While we’re seeing an increase in the number of organizations that have crisis management plans, the vast majority of those plans are still woefully inadequate. In a recent interview, NFIB.com’s Adam Wren asked our own Jonathan Bernstein, “what exactly should be covered in crisis plans?”
Here’s what he had to say:
“Have backup plans for every foreseeable situation that could strike your organization,” says Jonathan Bernstein, president of Sierra Madre, Calif.-based Bernstein Crisis Management, who has counseled small businesses on everything from price gouging allegations to an E. coli outbreak at a local restaurant. “Don’t stick your head in the sand with regard to crisis preparedness.”
But I can’t plan for EVERYTHING…can I?
Well, yes and no. While you can’t necessarily have a specific plan for every crisis that could conceivably touch your organization, you can (and should) create broad plans to cover the categories of crisis you could expect to encounter. Categories may include natural disasters, workplace violence, employee misconduct, management scandal, violence in community, theft, cyber crime and so on. Obviously these will vary wildly depending on your type of organization, location, clientele and many, many other factors, so it’s up to you to sit down and really brainstorm on what dangers could come your way. At the end of the day, you’ll have created a system for rapid, effective response to ANY crisis.
It’s not exactly fun thinking of all the terrible things that could befall your business, but believe us, you’ll feel better, and recover faster, if you have plans in place BEFORE a crisis hits.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com