FMs doing it for themselves

A crisis management programme is a vital facilities management tool to ensure preparedness, reaction, communication and business continuity

Facilities managers frustrated at the lack of readily available, site-wide management mechanisms to implement in times of crisis can now do if for themselves. fmME talks to Jon M Evenson, senior consultant at Rolf Jensen & Associates, about the crisis management tool box being rolled-out in the Gulf

The development and implementation of a site-wide crisis management plan is imperative if a company, and its FM team, is to reduce the negative impact of a crisis on company operations and image.

Crisis management planning consists of creating a streamline process of managing crisis before, during and after, to both respond rapidly and coordinate efforts to minimise costly downtime. 

With this in mind, the RJA site-wide plan is based on the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 1600 and NFPA 1620 Standards and Guidelines. It is a completely interactive program with all documents and information available through a web portal, which means information can be accessed and implemented quickly, which is vital.

If you are looking to develop a crisis management plan you can turn to the NFPA for guidance and recommendations.

The NFPA 1600 The National Preparedness Standard and NFPA 1620 Recommended Practices for Pre-Incident Planning are two great resources for any facilities manager looking to develop a comprehensive crisis management plan.

Addressing the issues

To effectively develop a crisis management programme, several issues have to be addressed in order to manage, communicate and respond. 

Crisis management team structure

To effectively manage a crisis, a crisis management team structure should be developed to identify key aspects of the response efforts that need to be managed. Without a structured team identified, a company may face challenges in coordination, communication and management of a crisis at various levels. 

The effectiveness of the crisis management plan is dependent on the ability of the team members to have clear and concise responsibilities before, during and after a crisis. If a crisis occurs, a company’s crisis management team’s goal is to effectively respond and contain the crisis to minimise the negative impact on operations. 

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Crisis response levels

Each type of crisis that can occur should be identified and be assigned crisis levels that allow the teams to escalate and de-escalate the response efforts and resources. 

The crisis levels should also include trigger points that escalates from Crisis Level 1 to Crisis Level 5. Within each level there should be information on how the crisis will be managed, and what resources will be utilised to assist in the response efforts.

This approach enables an FM’s crisis management programme to coordinate response efforts and resources without affecting operations outside the crisis zone. In addition, this type of scalable approach allows the FM to increase or decrease response resources and personnel as dictated by the crisis’ location, nature and severity. 

Through scalable crisis levels FMs can then manage a crisis in a uniform manner, leaving the company to manage operations and minimise the negative impact the crisis might have on the company and its public image.

Response procedures

A crisis management programme should address and develop response procedures for various crises that could adversely affect the company.  By identifying and creating response procedures a company can implement, train and integrate the company response procedures, and align with the local authority’s procedures. 

Each response procedure should be designed to provide a standardised document that can be used as a training tool, and should form the basis of your company’s crisis management programme.

Crisis communications

During and after a crisis, one of the most critical aspects of response is communication to control the amount of public information provided about the crisis. For crisis management, a company should look to standardise the methods and lines of communication, both internally and externally, to coordinate appropriate response efforts and maintain a positive public image at all times.

The standardisation of crisis communications includes developing standard methods for communication of crisis information before, during and after, to allow responsible parties to understand the nature, severity and location of the crisis, what response efforts are being conducted, and what needs to be conducted.

In addition, corporate standardisation of crisis communications to media channels (television, radio and print media) need to be developed to coordinate a standard approach on how crisis-related information will be shared with the media: a ‘One-Voice’ stance should always be adopted.

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