Crisis preparedness
Warren Buffett once said, “If you lose dollars for the firm, I’ll be understanding. If you lose reputation for the firm, I’ll be ruthless.”
Nothing can damage the reputation of a firm more quickly than handling a crisis poorly. Scan through the five questions below and note whether you would answer “yes” to key drivers of effective crisis management.
|
|
Yes |
No |
| We have a written crisis communication plan and train our people at all levels and in all locations how to execute it, if necessary. | ||
| We are proactive in monitoring issues and working to manage them before they become crises. | ||
| We have updated and readily accessible databases of our stakeholders (clients, vendors, employees, etc.) to use if we have an unexpected crisis, such as an accident or natural disaster. | ||
| We have spokesperson(s) who understand the news media and will be credible in speaking for the company at a time of crisis. | ||
| If I happen to be out the country and unable to participate in managing a big crisis, I am confident my team would handle it well without me. |
Although these five questions are not a comprehensive audit of your preparedness, they will give you an initial assessment. If you answered yes to all of these statements, your company is probably in good shape. If you answered yes to four, you have done some work but have room for improvement. Three or fewer, you have risks you need to address quickly.
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