One of the cannier ways to ready an organisation to manage a potential crisis is to activate these eight basic steps. 

1 Forecast and assess potential crisis and related incidents. Identify stakeholders and assess their interests and sphere of influence. Analyse internal and external operating environments for factors that may lead to crisis in terms of feasibility; urgency and impact.

2 Assess organisational capability to deal with crisis. Deals with three main questions: (i) can the organisation detect a crisis in its early stages? (ii) how effectively can the organisation manage a crisis? (iii) what are likely to be the outcomes of a crisis?

3 Determine required crisis management processes. Trace how significant decisions are made and communicated throughout the organisation in a crisis. Develop guidelines for efficient information collection and dissemination. Develop simple protocol for dealing with serious injury and death. Establish a central log of incoming and outgoing phone calls. Develop guidelines on advising the media and for dealing face to face with the media during a crisis.

4 Document crisis management processes. Document all processes clearly and unambiguously and disseminate to relevant personnel.

5 Appoint crisis management personnel. The team would usually comprise a senior manager, a strategist/tactician communication expert, and a company veteran with a good internal network and solid technical/operational background. Then team leader should report directly to the CEO, who would act as public spokesperson.

6 Develop materials. Prepare templates for rapid development of materials. Compile basic information on company, products, and personnel. Include graphic materials like maps to lift understanding of the game plan during crises.

7 Disseminate plan. Define database of internal personnel and relevant external agencies. Design training programs, identify relevant personnel and instruct accordingly.

8 Deploy simulation. Design complex and realistic crisis scenario, plan, conduct and appraise simulation exercise.

Some tips & tricks

§     Develop a crisis that is realistic, including some twists & turns, and involving different stakeholders and different responses (not just media).

§     Develop the scenario in detail, but be flexible to be able to respond to the way they respond on the day.

§     One person in the organisation should not participate, but be the liaison for developing scenarios, etc.

§     One person should sit in on meetings, etc during the crisis simulation to enhance evaluation.

§     People should play out their roles  dont offer advice during the simulation.

§     Time is of the essence  make sure the participants are given actual deadlines, and asked to stick to them.

§     Prepare as much as you can in advance.

§     Be tough on them.