Crisis exercises to ensure your crisis management plan is robust
Having a crisis management plan is one thing; embedding it in the organisation so that it could be used effectively by the crisis management team in the event of a major incident is quite another. A crisis exercise is often the first step in a programme of crisis management planning and training to stress-test your crisis management plan and ensure that your crisis management team has the knowledge and skills to successfully apply it.
Insignia’s experienced crisis management consultants will work with you to create a realistic scenario against which the crisis management plan can be applied. Through the tabletop exercise we will then facilitate a walk through of your crisis management processes to ensure that they are capable of dealing with likely crisis scenarios, and that your crisis management team is clear and confident in its application.
These crisis exercises are an excellent opportunity to re-focus attention on crisis management planning within an organisation. They also provide invaluable feedback to strengthen existing crisis management and crisis communication plans.
Our tabletop exercises often form part of the briefing process for a new crisis management team or early in the crisis management planning cycle as part of the launch of a new crisis management plan. They are also effective as part of an on-going crisis management training programme prior to undertaking a full scale simulation.
Crisis exercises can provide valuable input to the following areas:
- Clarity and logic of crisis management plan content and approach
- Crisis management team escalation, roles, responsibilities and resource
- Availability of technical, logistical and administrative resource
- Decision-making regarding a pro-active versus reactive crisis communication strategy and the speed with which these decisions can be made
- Decision-making around engagement with media or other stakeholders
By undertaking a crisis exercise Insignia’s experienced crisis communication consultants pinpoint:
- Where the crisis management plan is fit for purpose
- Where the plan is unclear, confusing or contains gaps
- Where additional resources are required
- Where crisis management team training may be required