blog post – fourth quarter 2023
no one is an island
Organizations tend to be very insular in their crisis preparation efforts. When that happens, even if things go very well during exercises, people get a false sense of security.
No crisis involves only the organization experiencing the event. When something happens, first responders, government agencies, regulators, the media, and many other stakeholders will also activate their own crisis plans.
If an organization has never spoken, or exercised, with these groups, how can they create a reality-based environment for their preparation efforts?
Back when I worked for an airline, we had a mutual aid agreement with another carrier where each would provide critical assistance to the other in their home hub. We decided to test whether we could actually support each other in an accident scenario since we shared the same goal, but different procedures.
It took all of 10 minutes before the first call came into our exercise management office. “We’re still awaiting your team to arrive for assignment,” shared the other airline’s local representative. Simultaneously, on another line, our people were calling to say they were locked out from the other airline’s office building and their security badges did not permit them entry.
If this had been a real crisis, a second crisis of our own making would have been underway from the first task.
When all was said and done, although we had known there would likely be a handful of things that needed to be changed, our list of processes that did not work as expected topped more than 100 individual items.
That’s a huge number from two organizations that had the exact same goal! Imagine what we would learn as we added in other organizations that would be involved and had their own separate goals that sometimes conflicted with our own.
Every organization should dedicate at least one of its annual exercises to practicing with other entities with which it will interact during an actual crisis.
During these practice sessions, the organization should have an internal observer team – not participating in the exercise in any other capacity – to carefully document processes and procedures do not mesh or which conflict in some way. They should note how and when the other organization completes its tasks. They should also observe how people from each organization interact and whether personal or joint areas of responsibility issues might arise during a response.
Exercising with other organizations likely to be involved in a particular crisis adds a touch of reality and provides invaluable insight.
Organizations that drill down to this level of detail are far more prepared than those that simply run an internal corporate exercise to tick the box.
Be different. Be ready.