Five Most Common Gaps in Crisis Management

PR_Crisis_Response_ApologyWe have heard it many times over the last two years - the world has changed. COVID has impacted everything from the economy to the mental and physical health of the world. Social conflict and unrest have reached a series of flashpoints. We are seeing spikes in cybercrime. As if the fallout from the largest pandemic in a century wasn’t enough, we also continue to feel the impacts of climate change in natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. The list of global disruptions is long. People are exhausted and dismayed.

Of course, businesses are feeling it too. For every COVID or natural disaster related disruption, there is the potential for a correlated business crisis. Traditionally, crisis was thought of as an infrequent occurrence, but now crises are happening all the time. It’s no longer a question of if a crisis is coming; but how many crises, how often are they coming, and how can we be prepared?

Here are the five gaps I see all the time when it comes to managing a crisis:

  • The Who, What, Where, Why and How
    Information is coming from a variety of directions - if it’s even coming at all. It can be a challenge to simply know what you need to know.

  • Keeping Pace
    A crisis is no longer a single point in time. It is a series of rolling events that require constant updates. Yet, information trickles in, leading to slow or missed responses.

  • Operating in Silos
    Organizations have various teams sitting in different areas of the business, all using different online tools and protocols.

  • Empty Seats in the Command Center
    It is difficult to bring people together in a timely way on an emerging issue. Organizations struggle to communicate across their business.

  • Underinvested in Technology
    Organizations are consistently challenged to adopt new, sophisticated communication tools. Technology has helped every discipline - crisis management is no exception.

Look at these five gaps and ask yourself – are you getting the information you need? Is it coming in real time? Are your teams connected? Can you activate them at the drop of a dime? Are you using the best available tools and technology to prepare yourself for a crisis?

Trust me – you want the answers to these questions before the crisis starts. We created In Case of Crisis 365 to ensure you’re in the best position to manage your business through the most difficult times by addressing all these potential gaps. Do yourself a favor and assess your business now. If we have learned one thing over the last two years, it’s that disruption can happen at any moment. Be ready.

Together, we can take the crisis out of crisis management.