Why would anyone go to all the trouble of setting up their Crisis Management Team, assigning roles & responsibilities, briefing the team members, writing and rehearsing plans and then, when an incident occurs that has the potential to escalate into a crisis, ignore the fact that the Crisis Management Team exists?

Well, for some reason, this is precisely what a lot of organisations do! In many cases the Crisis Management Team either don’t convene at all, or only get together when the situation has become so bad that they are constantly on the back foot, reacting to rather than proactively managing the incident.

The problem is often the fact that sound escalation procedures don’t exist or, worse, that the Crisis Management Team see themselves as something akin to the cavalry, charging in to save the day when the situation is almost hopeless!

But wouldn’t it be better if they came together earlier, to assess the situation calmly and plan the response rationally? And if the incident doesn’t escalate to epic proportions after all, then so what? They can always stand down. But if it does, there’s more chance that they’ll be ready for it and the chances of recovery are likely to be higher.

So if they’re there, why not use them. If nothing else, it’s good practice for them…and practice makes perfect doesn’t it?