Carol Hill, FEI Crisis Management Associate
Six months ago, I’d been traveling and had a flight delay. My phone (which is my lifeline) was slowly losing battery power. I started worrying when my phone reached 10 percent battery life and every outlet in the airport seemed to be broken. I was about to accept the fact that my phone would power off when I remembered I’d brought along a portable battery charger. I reached for the charger in my bag and plugged in my phone, feeling a sense of regained control as the charging icon appeared.
When I think about organizational crisis preparedness, I often wonder: Do we have our backup battery ready?
The backup battery can represent the available resources we have at our disposal. Do we have our data backed up? Do we have spare devices that can be used in the event of a technical failure? Most importantly, do we have trained backup team members built into our preparedness plan?
When I conduct crisis preparedness drills with scenarios, I like to focus on the afterhours staff—those team members who may have had some training but are not usually involved in the overall process. Keep in mind that the operational “perfect storm” can always happen, and your main point of contact—your decision maker—could be unavailable. Do you feel confident in your backup team’s ability to support operations?
Identifying your key players for preparedness planning is only the beginning. Afterwards you should designate backups, even going a step further to think of those afterhours staff. Ensure they have all been trained equally and that proper documentation of the preparedness plan is in place. This will allow your team to feel fully in control during a crisis event.
If you should require any assistance in training for your organization, contact an FEI crisis account manager to make certain your team’s backup battery is fully charged.