Every business path starts with a proper idea. A business plan helps business owners make long-term decisions, track their progress, and write an investor-magnet startup pitch. However, the world of entrepreneurship is full of uncertainty. Unexpected issues occur all the time, and they always negatively influence business performances. That is the reason why writing a solid crisis management plan is mandatory.
Around 60% of companies in the world have a crisis management plan. They want to shorten the crisis impact on their business progress, protect employees, and improve their productivity when the crisis occurs.
Writing a solid crisis management plan is a difficult task. There are many details you will need to cover and make them understandable for all the team members. The tips from the list will help you complete the process with better results. Let’s find them out together!
Define All the Threats and Risks
Threats and risks will always exist in the business world. There will always be something (changes on the market) or someone (competitors) that can negatively influence the progress of your business. Start the crisis management plan with a definition of all risks and threats that will negatively influence your business development.
Next, you need to objectively analyze the capability of your company to fight against any potential threats. That is why you also need to define all the mechanisms that will help you analyze the market changes. If you don’t possess those mechanisms, or your analysis is currently not appropriate, making some changes will be necessary.
Can you prepare your company for every potential risk? No! But you can determine the primary hazards such as cyberattacks, financial crisis, bad marketing and analyze them.
Define the Triggers
The activation of the crisis management plan depends on specific circumstances. Coronavirus pandemic is a good example of that. Lockdowns seemed like a massive threat to many small businesses. In 2020, the proportion of people that lost their job in the United States is around 9%.
Instead of activating a business management plan, small and medium-sized businesses should start with small changes. People don’t leave their houses too often, which is a good opportunity for businesses to change their marketing strategy. For instance, they can improve their online presence, adjust their offers, etc. Activating a crisis management plan would only be reasonable if those changes are not bringing the desired results.
The above considerations confirm that some triggers need to exist. You need to define the levels of urgency and define precisely the circumstances that activate the crisis plan.
Define the Organization within Company during Crisis
Decentralized organizations allow people to show their creativity and talents properly. However, when a crisis occurs, some kind of authority needs to exist. At every moment, all the team members need to know who reports to whom.
At the top of the organizational chart, there should be the most educated and experienced employees. They should use their knowledge and experience to guide other employees until the crisis ends. If they struggle to control the entire organization at once, the usage of different task management apps will help them improve the productivity of the entire team. There is no place for mistakes and gaps when the situation becomes critical.
Define the Actions You Need to Take in Details
Determining “What”, “When”, and “Who” will help you find an answer to “How”. This section should cover all the potential actions the entire business should take to solve the potential threat.
First of all, you will need to determine the steps all the responsible participants should make. Despite that, you also need to precisely determine which resources they need to reach the solution. Consider organizing additional pieces of training that will prepare your employees for the potential crisis.
Let’s use an example to make things clear. Your eCommerce store has become a victim of a cyberattack. That is one of the triggers that activate the crisis management plan and it requires the urgent reaction of the company’s IT sector. They will need to find the most effective way to make the webstore functional as soon as possible.
On the other hand, many customers will probably try to contact customer service and try to find out what’s happening. Customer service employees’ task would be to find the best possible way to protect the company’s reputation. For instance, they can say that the eCommerce store is making some updates and will be available again in a few hours. Yet, this confirms the next reason is crucial as well.
Define Internal Communication during Crisis
The communication system between all sections needs to be at the highest level. If the company is outsourcing some services, outside parties should also be familiar with the crisis management plan.
You will need to ensure that all team members can exchange information and instruction without any distraction. Fortunately, many emergency notification programs can boost the quality and speed of communication. With a couple of clicks, all the team members will get notified about the crisis.
Keep the Crisis Management Plan Motivational and Simple
The business crisis usually negatively influences the motivation of all employees. It negatively affects their productivity and reduces the progress of the entire company. Thus, a good idea is to start the crisis management plan start with a motivational team vision statement. It will bring the employees together around the same goal and encourage them to pass all the obstacles effectively
Complex instructions require simple explanations. However, many business owners do not know how to simplify their crisis management plan. If writing is a problem for you, you can use HireWriters to make the content more understandable. The writing experts know how to simplify contents that contain a big number of confusing details.
Final Thought
Thanks to these six pieces of advice, you will manage to write a solid crisis management plan. All these sections need to contain all the details and instructions. Making a mistake during a crisis can be costly. However, that is also the reason why you need to make all the data simple to understand.
Risks and threats are not always going to be the same. Update the crisis management plan whenever a new threat appears. Introduce all the employees to the new changes and prepare them for the crisis. That is the only way to survive on the market!
Author Bio
Estelle Liotard is a writer, editor, and proofreader at GetGoodGrade. Thanks to her writing experience in native English and talents, she manages to write different types of content for various business purposes.