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1. The role of the crisis unit
What is a crisis unit?
Accident, strike, data breach, leak of sensitive information... No company is safe from a crisis situation! This is the whole point of the crisis unit. This team of experts is dedicated to management of crisis situations in business. It brings together the strategic resources that are essential to respond quickly and effectively to the problem.
This organization is designed to play a coordination and decision support role in the face of the challenges raised by the critical situation. It makes it possible to analyze the company's vulnerability points, to manage the crisis while maintaining business continuity and limiting the effects. In addition, its role is crucial in providing feedback after the fact.
The development and implementation of a crisis unit require the intervention of experienced and competent professionals in all fields. In practice, the crisis unit takes different forms depending on the structure and its specificities:
- The incident or alert unit;
- The media processing cell;
- The planning unit.
The actions of the crisis unit:
- Detecting emergency situations
- Assessing the impact of the crisis
- Deploy the crisis management system
- Take emergency measures
- Communicate and coordinate with the various stakeholders
- Identifying the way out of the crisis
- Give feedback a posteriori to identify the good or bad functioning
- Organize crisis training and exercises
- Update the various crisis management plans
☝️ To note: A distinction is made between the event (at the origin of) and the crisis situation. The latter can be defined as a destabilization of the company by an event, regardless of its origin. However, the event does not impact all organizations in the same way and does not necessarily induce a crisis.
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2. The advantages of a crisis management unit
Tool for rapid business adaptation
Setting up a crisis unit is a major tool for the stability of the company. She is prepared and experienced in crisis management, responding quickly, measured and deploying appropriate solutions before the crisis develops. It is an essential step in the crisis management protocol. His work includes: simulate post-conflict scenarios which make it possible to project oneself into a real situation and to define several of the elements of the solution.
In practice, the crisis unit ensures:
- Immediate management of the crisis at all levels of the company;
- Fast decisions;
- Less confusion or better information within the structure;
- Better risk prevention;
- Better preparation for crisis situations;
- A detailed work plan;
- Feedback to improve the action plan.
☝️ To note: It is essential that the crisis unit has up-to-date information and modern practices (communication, security) in order to be able to deal with an unexpected change with the same efficiency.
Performance management and improvement tool
The crisis unit is a essential management tool for the management of unexpected events or critical situations. By bringing together a team of key managers, it promotes rapid decision-making and helps limit negative impacts on the organization.
She is also a lever for improvement ofthe company performance since its work makes it possible to identify structural and operational weaknesses revealed by risk assessment. Finally, the crisis unit promotes business resilience and its ability to anticipate and improve the management of future crises. It becomes an issue for the manager, in order to deal with destabilizing events.
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3. Setting up an effective crisis unit
Plan crisis management
The crisis unit can only function by having a action plan established, in particular by assigning tasks to the various members of the team. You must be able to respond to the emergency in business created by a climate disaster, an earthquake, a fire, a blockage due to a social movement, a computer failure or a data leak for example.
The crisis unit helps the company to identify potential risks depending on its geographical location and its sector of activity in particular. It thus develops strategies to respond to the crisis and solutions for a return to normal. To be identified, she must have the people with the skills essential to carry out this highly expert preparatory work.
Give priority to digital archiving to avoid crisis situations.
Choosing the members of the crisis unit
The members of the crisis unit are selected for their expertise and their ability to work together to manage the crisis. To identify these members, we turn in particular to human resources managers, site managers, and key senior managers such as department heads and communication managers. Each has its defined place and role to play in the cell. However, depending on the type of crisis and its severity, they can intervene in parallel in an organized manner in crisis management.
The crisis unit is divided into sub-teams to deal with each of the issues raised by the event:
- The manager as contact point, decision-maker and coordinator of the implementation of actions;
- The operations to be implemented;
- Communication and public relations;
- The resources to be made available: supplies, personnel, access code...;
- legal issues and transactions;
- The training of members of the crisis unit on risk assessment, communication and intervention strategies.
Appoint a spokesperson
Communication during a crisis situation is very important and particularly sensitive. The spokesperson plays a crucial role in managing communication during a crisis in order to avoid contradictions and the risk of speculation. Its main mission is to transmit official information internally and externally, in a clear, coherent and reassuring manner.
- Official point of contact between the company and the media: he manages press releases and press conferences.
- Dissemination of internal communication to staff: it aims to maintain transparency and avoid misinformation within the organization.
- Coordination with the teams to better adapt the actions in progress.
The spokesperson for the crisis unit is a strategic choice in the success of crisis management. He is both an excellent communicator and is diplomatic in order to manage tense situations with professionalism. He knows perfectly the culture and values of the company, which allows him to act with practical sense and with empathy towards those affected by the situation.
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