Page 12 - NBIZ August 2020

the entity’s financial health. A crisis would be required, but not operations The crisis management external
management plan involves identifying or accounting. Within the company, team members will be those trusted
and minimizing the impact of an members of the crisis team could service providers that the business
unexpected exposure crisis in the include risk management, communi- has leaned into through the years
company’s life cycle. cations, legal, quality control, security, and, perhaps, may need to get to know
operations, accounting, finance, IT and better. Insurance brokers, disaster
Building the Crisis Response Team human resources. A crisis team job de- recovery solutions companies, forensic
As part of the crisis management scription should be developed for each accountants, environmental, safety
plan, internal and external teams need team member, including roles, responsi- and health consultants, security firms,
to be identified to respond to each event bilities, authority (decision making and local fire departments, emergency
that may arise. The crisis management financial) and their designated backup medical technicians (EMTs), police de-
team has a responsibility to manage cat- employee. One of the most important partments and public relations compa-
astrophic events and ensure that their aspects of choosing and developing the nies are just a few of the external team
role and responsibilities are carried out internal company crisis management members needed to be successful. The
according to the crisis management team is that its members work as time to build these relationships is not
plan. Many organizations have crisis a single unit. Those chosen for the when the disaster occurs (or just has
management plans, trained teams and team must be proficient in their given occurred), but before. Getting Master
have established protocols and resourc- area, be able to multi-task (including Service Agreements (MSAs), contracts,
es for crises. Several crisis teams may be doing their day-to-day job and handle purchase order (PO) numbers and all
established within the organization so the crisis) and deal with the stress of the legalese out of the way before the
that their expertise and specialization significant disruption. They must also crisis will expedite the crisis response.
can provide leadership depending leave their ego at the door, step outside Once the ”paperwork” is done, the in-
upon the type of critical situation. For of their comfort zone and provide calm ternal and external teams should meet
example, if a cyber breach occurs, IT leadership in a turbulent time. at least once per year to assure all the
members understand each of their re-
spective roles before, during and after
the crisis occurs. The use of a tabletop
scenario (a practical what-if event)
can be exceptionally helpful to garner
ideas, identify additional resources
needed and formulate solutions with
the internal and external team mem-
bers. During the teams’ gathering,
dependencies and interdependencies
should be carefully analyzed among
the groups. The combined meeting is
also the ideal opportunity to enhance
and upgrade the crisis management
plan. Input from all team members is
valuable to address a crisis.
Disasters and crises do not always
arrive at an ideal moment in time. Nor
do they happen during regular busi-
ness hours. But when they do come
Those chosen for the team must be proficient in their unannounced, having a crisis plan and
a crisis management team can make
given area, be able to multi-task (including doing their the schedule a lot easier. N
Lance J. Ewing is executive
day-to-day job and handle the crisis) and deal with vice-president (EVP) of Global

Risk Management for Cotton
the stress of significant disruption. They must also leave Global Disaster Solutions based
in Houston, Texas. He is former
their ego at the door, step outside of their comfort zone president of the Risk and Insurance
Management Society (RIMS) and is
and provide calm leadership in a turbulent time. a frequent keynote speaker on crisis
management.

12 NBIZ ■ August 2020