Adapting Crisis Management: To Activate or Not to Activate the Team

Should we still have our Crisis Management team activated? It depends.

That answer might not be the one you were hoping for, but each organisation is different and as such, you need to adapt to your unique situation.

In general, we advise clients, if you have a capable team overseeing the ongoing day-to-day pandemic management effort, then you can reduce the frequency of the Crisis Management Team (CMT) meeting.

Scenarios that may require the CMT to meet again could be a suspected positive case in the organisation, a certain level of community transmission, lockdowns, and impacts to business operations – like supply chain disruptions.

If you have a dedicated COVID Management Team, or a support team separate to the CMT, who will keep monitoring the day-to-day operational impacts, you need to ensure you have triggers in place for bringing the strategic thinkers (CMT) back in.

The CMT should look to delegate where possible but require a deep understanding in order to do that.

What are others doing?

We’ve seen some organisations have a separate COVID management team activated, with the CMT no longer active full time – or remain just as a reporting line to provide updates.

On the flip side of this approach, some organisations only have their CMT activated. This means they can’t delegate as easily and need to remain more actively involved as the event progresses.

It’s been nearly 24 months since the pandemic took form. In general, it may be beneficial to give the CMT members a break. A stand down from a wellbeing perspective may provide space to evaluate how your organisation currently stands. It can identify whether anything has slipped from the team regarding managing operational aspects – rather than staying strategic.

That said, everyone is different and there is no definitive answer. Before answering this question for a client, we ask them a few key points first.

• How big is your team and where are you currently operating? Are there high-risk locations for community transmissions?
• Are all versions of your response team trained up under the same business continuity and crisis management plan?
• How has communication been during the pandemic? Could this be improved?
• Are you still remote or are you working on a return to work policy?

If you’re finding it difficult to answer these questions with clarity, give our consulting team a call or email, obligation free to discuss.