Crisis Management

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Crisis Management
Prepared By Awni Adnan AL-arab Supervised
By Dr. Loai Tawalbeh
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• Definition
• A crisis is defined as an event that by its
  nature or its consequences
• constitutes a threat to vital national interests
  or to the essential needs of the population
• prompts rapid decision making
• demands coordination between different
  departments and organisms

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Key features of a Crisis

• Low probability
• High impact
• Uncertain/ambiguous causes and effects

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Common features of a crisis

• The situation materialises unexpectedly
• Decisions are required urgently
• Time is short
• Specific threats are identified
• Urgent demands for information are received
• There is sense of loss of control
• Pressures build over time
• Routine business become increasingly difficult
• Demands are made to identify someone to blame
• Outsiders take an unaccustomed interest
• Reputation suffers
• Communications are increasingly difficult to
  manage

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Crisis Management

• Crisis Management
• prevents a crisis from becoming a catastrophe.
• Crisis management can be defined as a system or
  methodology of solving crisis situations. We can
  be sure that the actual crisis situation will
  differ from our expectation.

A crisis is like a virus, the effects can be
sudden , insidious, infectious and extremely
dangerous
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Problem characterization

• Crisis management is a very complex and not
  easily predictable process. The problem can be
  explicated in three claims
• Nobody knows when a crisis event will happen.
• The scenario of a crisis/emergency event can be
  expected and prepared for but the real situation
  will change it.
• Our knowledge of a crisis/emergency event
  solution is developed step-by-step and
  hour-by-hour and its current version has to be
  utilized continuously in the crisis event
  solution.

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Purpose of crisis management

• Prevention
• Survival
• Successful outcomes

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Three criteria of success

• Has organisational capacity been restored?
• Have losses been minimised?
• Have lessons been learned?

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Crisis Planning

• Assess risks
• Produce plans
• Define roles and responsibilities
• Appoint crisis management team
• Draw up communication plan
• Produce contact and organisation chart
• Promote crisis-ready culture
• Publish plans and conduct training
• Test, review and practise

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PRE-CRISIS ACTIONS AND PREPARATIONS

• Crisis is no time to find yourself on a learning
  curve. Community measures and Emergency
  procedures are essential
• Planning requires that crisis can occur at any
  time. Nine out of ten crisis occur when you are
  asleep, probably after a late night or at a
  week-end!

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PRE-CRISIS ACTIONS AND PREPARATIONS

• Pre-crisis actions costs are often (but not
  always) a tiny fraction of the losses that are
  typically incurred by crisis for which there has
  been inadequate preparation
• It is very easy to underestimate the damage a
  crisis can do and the costs it can have.

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PRE-CRISIS ACTIONS AND PREPARATIONS

• Preparedness at Commission level
• Emergency Procedures
• Staff awareness
• Network of experts for urgent meeting/advice
• Standard Commission Decisions (safeguard clauses)
  ready in all official languages

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Pre-crisis actions and preparations

• The crisis unfolds
• After the crisis
• 3. In a Nutshell

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THE CRISIS UNFOLDS

• Appointment of a press contact person who is
  always available and ready to reply immediately
• Quick reaction in taking and repealing measures
• Dispatch of information in real time
• Consistency of information (everyone should have
  the same story)
• Development of a detailed chronology

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THE CRISIS UNFOLDS

• The services/officials concerned ought to show
  flexibility and may have to stay late hours, work
  on week-ends or report their vacations
• The work-plans and tasks should be re-organized
  so as to allow for an effective management of the
  crisis and all its side effects (letters, working
  groups)
• Risk assessors and risk managers must work in
  strict co-operation!

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THE CRISIS UNFOLDS

• Coordination between the Units and Directorates
  concerned is essential, so as to ensure that all
  the aspects of the crisis are being tackled .
• Show sympathy for those affected by the crisis.

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AFTER THE CRISIS

• Promote positive stories in the media
• Analyze the management of the crisis
• Update Emergency Procedures

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IN A NUTSHELL

• Be prepared
• Sooner or later you may also be involved in a
  crises, which will involve a lot of extra work
• What is the most likely scenario for you/your
  service? Are you ready for it?
• The crisis may be worse than you expected!

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IN A NUTSHELL

• Say the truth
• People and institutions do not like facing and
  managing crisis. This may lead them into
  half-truths, lies and evasions
• What is said to the media, other bodies needs to
  be updated and consistent

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IN A NUTSHELL

• Be visible
• If the crisis is major, then Commissioner needs
  to be at the site of the crisis quickly and to be
  visible
• Failure to show sympathy will be punished by the
  media and by all members of the public and can
  destroy the reputation of the Commission

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Crisis Communications
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Communication plan

• Core elements are
• Identifying audiences (Who?)
• How communication is to take place (How?)
• What messages are to be communicated (What?)
• The core process is
• Active, two-way communication