How do you manage a crisis?

All organisations will undergo situations that could be deemed a crisis, for some it will be disaster, whilst others seem to shrug off problems and become stronger. SharePoint can save you time and money if you prepare a new ‘crisis-management’ site all ready and waiting.

One of the things you can to is to prepare how you and the organisation will manage these events when they happen. Will you constantly be on the phone, repeating the same message to senior managers who are desperate for updates? Will you be always wondering what the scope of the problem is because the channels to report problems are full and only when you put the phone down can the next report come in?

If you look at the nuts and bolts of a crisis, they all similar components;

• Something has happened that is not normal or is unexpected

• It affects the way the organisation works or how projects are delivered

• The financial or reputational impact for the organisation can be quite a problem

• Stakeholders want information (these include senior managers, clients and any mix of people inside or outside the organisation

A SharePoint site that has been prepared in advance for such a problem can be quickly created from a template and within a few minutes you are ready to start collating information and adding the stakeholders so that everyone can view one focal point.

The problem and scope can be clearly identified and the current actions are on display, if the scope changes, that can be easily incorporated.

Communications between stakeholders can be in the form of a discussion, and if needed areas of the site can be set to have an internal email address to allow information (photos or relevant information) to be emailed in if needed.

Approval for communication can be done in minutes without the need for a single email, and the communication itself can be logged together with its recipients.

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about preparing for the inevitable crisis.