Knowing which crises are likely and which functions must survive is the groundwork. The CM Strategy (BCS) phase turns it into decisions: how the organisation will respond to each scenario, which overall strategy it will adopt, what it will do to prevent and reduce harm, and how it will communicate. This chapter describes the steps for carrying out the phase at Jamiyah Home for the Aged (JHA) and gives an example of each.
The phase builds on three earlier results. The Project Management phase supplied the goals, scope and risk tolerance. The Crisis Scenario Risk Analysis and Review (CRA) phase supplied a ranked list of eight scenarios, CS-01 to CS-08. The Business Impact Analysis (BIA) phase, completed by the Business Continuity Management (BCM) team, supplied the critical business functions, CBF-01 to CBF-25, with tiers and recovery objectives. The strategy phase combines them. It decides what the home will do when a scenario occurs, how it will try to prevent or soften the scenarios in the first place, and which posture it will take toward its stakeholders.
The strategy has two halves. The first concerns mitigation and prevention: the measures that reduce the chance or the effect of a crisis before it happens. The second concerns crisis management strategies: the posture the organisation adopts in the face of an ongoing crisis. Both halves feed the plan that Chapter 6 assembles.
The BCM Institute source page for this phase gives five steps: develop response protocols for each scenario; tailor those protocols to the scenario; adopt a crisis management strategy; establish a communication plan; and prioritise transparency. The sections below follow that order. A further section covers the five categories of mitigation and prevention measures that the methodology uses.
The first step is to write a protocol for each crisis scenario identified in the CRA phase. The source page says each protocol should include activation criteria, roles and responsibilities, action steps, a decision-making hierarchy, and resource allocation. A protocol is not a script for every moment. It is a short, structured guide that tells the crisis management team who is in charge, what must be done first and what authority people have.
Example for JHA: Take scenario CS-02, an infectious disease outbreak. An illustrative protocol might read as follows.
Protocols of this kind can run to a page or two. Longer ones tend not to be read under pressure.
The second step adjusts each protocol to the nature of its scenario. The source page gives the example that a response to a cyberattack differs greatly from one to a natural disaster. The same applies to a welfare home. A fire needs immediate physical action and a clear chain of command in minutes. A safeguarding allegation needs careful fact-finding, protection of the resident and a measured approach to communication over days. A records breach needs technical containment and notification decisions. The activation triggers, decision-makers and time frames differ in each case.
Example for JHA: The table below shows illustrative activation triggers and lead roles for each scenario. They are examples for the project team to refine.
| Scenario | Illustrative activation trigger | Illustrative lead |
|---|---|---|
| CS-01 Fire or evacuation | Fire alarm confirmed as a real event, or any partial or full evacuation | Superintendent, with the person in charge on the shift until arrival |
| CS-02 Infectious disease outbreak | Cluster of similar illness among residents or staff | Superintendent, advised by the care and nursing lead |
| CS-03 Resident death, serious injury or safeguarding allegation | Any unexpected death, serious injury, or credible allegation of abuse or neglect | Superintendent, with the managing agent informed at once |
| CS-04 Serious medication error | Error that causes or may cause serious harm | Care and nursing lead |
| CS-05 Prolonged failure of utilities or building services | Loss of power, water or lifts expected to last beyond a set number of hours | Facilities representative, with the Superintendent |
| CS-06 Records loss, data breach or systems failure | Loss of access to resident records, or suspected exposure of data | Information technology representative, with the Superintendent |
| CS-07 Severe staff shortage | Roster for a shift falls below the agreed minimum for Tier 1 functions | Superintendent, with the managing agent |
| CS-08 Adverse publicity, funding or licensing action | Media enquiry, regulator notice or funding concern that threatens standing | Managing agent's representative, with the Superintendent |
The third step decides the overall posture. The source page names four strategies: do nothing, stonewall, respond and defend, and take the offensive. It does not explain them, so the descriptions below are general explanations by the author of this eBook, not statements from the source page.
Example for JHA: For most scenarios, a posture of respond and defend, with early and accurate information to families, the managing agent and MSF, fits a home whose residents cannot speak for themselves and whose standing depends on trust. Do nothing might be reasonable for a minor, contained event with no effect on residents. Stonewall should be limited to short periods while the home establishes facts, and it should never apply to information a resident's family or MSF needs. Take the offensive might apply to CS-08 where a public claim about the home is false and can be corrected with evidence, or where the home chooses to announce a problem before it becomes public. The strategy is a standing policy, endorsed by the managing agent, and the protocols refer to it.
Alongside the response strategies, the methodology groups measures that reduce the chance or effect of a crisis into five categories. They are strategic level, technical and structural, evaluation and diagnostic, communication, and psychological and cultural. The table gives an illustrative example of each for JHA.
| Code | Category | Illustrative JHA measures | Scenarios addressed |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Strategic level | Managing agent endorses a crisis management policy and the risk tolerance; deputies are named for key roles | CS-03, CS-07, CS-08 |
| M2 | Technical and structural | Fire detection and evacuation arrangements; emergency power for critical areas; paper fallbacks for records and medication charts; data backups; isolation arrangements | CS-01, CS-02, CS-05, CS-06 |
| M3 | Evaluation and diagnostic | Near-miss reporting; medication audits; review of incident trends; monitoring of illness among residents and staff | CS-02, CS-03, CS-04 |
| M4 | Communication | Up-to-date next-of-kin contact lists; pre-approved holding statements; known contacts at the managing agent and MSF | CS-03, CS-08 |
| M5 | Psychological and cultural | A culture in which staff report concerns early; support for staff and residents after an incident; training in respectful care | CS-03, CS-04, CS-07 |
The categories work together. A technical measure such as a paper fallback is of little use without a cultural habit of switching to it early, and an evaluation measure such as near-miss reporting depends on staff trusting that reporting will not be punished.
The fourth step sets out how the organisation will communicate inside and outside during a crisis. The source page lists five elements: target audiences, messaging consistency, communication channels, spokesperson designation and crisis communication training. ISO 22361 includes a dedicated clause on crisis communication, reflecting how often communication determines whether a crisis grows or settles.
Example for JHA: The audiences are many, and their needs differ. The table below shows an illustrative set.
| Audience | What the audience needs | Illustrative channel and owner |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | Calm, simple, honest explanation and reassurance | In person, by familiar staff, with counsellor support |
| Next of kin | Prompt, accurate news of any event affecting a resident | Phone call from a designated senior person, followed by written update |
| Staff | Instructions, safety information and updates | Shift briefings and messaging group, led by the Superintendent |
| Volunteers, schools and visitors | Changes to visits and activities | Notice from the administrator |
| Managing agent | Early and complete information for decisions | Direct call from the Superintendent |
| MSF and partner agencies | Timely notification and requested information | Designated contact, in line with MSF requirements [verify] |
| Media and public | Brief, factual statement | Statement issued through the managing agent's communications contact |
Messaging consistency means that one approved account of the facts is used by everyone. A short fact sheet, kept by the administrator and updated as the situation changes, prevents different people giving different versions. Spokesperson designation means that one qualified person speaks for the home to the media, with a deputy named, and that other staff direct enquiries to that person. For JHA, the managing agent's communications contact might act as the media spokesperson, while the Superintendent speaks to residents, families and staff. Crisis communication training covers how to handle a difficult call from a worried family member, give a statement without speculating, and avoid sharing resident information beyond what is permitted. Chapter 6 places that training in the plan, and Chapter 8 places it in the annual cycle.
The fifth step is a principle that runs through the others. The source page advises keeping messages clear and truthful, even when information is limited. In practice, this means saying what is known, what is not yet known and when the next update will come. It means correcting mistakes quickly and avoiding language that hides the facts. A welfare home that is open with families and the regulator when something has gone wrong is more likely to keep their trust than one that is slow or guarded.
Example for JHA: After a serious fall that injures a resident, the first call to the family might say what happened, what care the resident is receiving, who is looking after the resident and when the family will hear next. It should avoid guessing at causes. If a later review finds a lapse, the home says so and describes what it has changed. The same approach applies to MSF, which should hear of a serious event from the home first.
Scenarios rarely arrive alone, and protocols that work in isolation can clash in practice. A fire evacuation (CS-01) may happen during an outbreak (CS-02), when affected residents need separate accommodation. A safeguarding allegation (CS-03) may break out during a staff shortage (CS-07), when the people who would normally investigate are on the floor. The project team should therefore review the eight protocols side by side and note where they compete for the same people, rooms or decisions. A short rule of precedence, for example, that immediate threats to life take priority over all other actions, removes doubt at the moment it matters.
The decision-making hierarchy needs the same attention. Each protocol names who decides, but the plan must also say who decides when that person is absent, which matters in a home that runs on shifts through the night and at weekends. A named deputy for each lead role, and a clear statement of what the person in charge on the shift may decide before senior staff arrive, closes that gap. These arrangements also support the culture measures in category M5, because staff are more willing to act early when they know they have the authority to do so.
MSF states that the Social Residential Homes Act came into operation on 1 July 2026 and that the Code of Practice 2026 covers five domains, including incident management. The pages read for this eBook do not describe what that domain requires, such as which incidents must be reported to MSF and within what time. The communication plan and the activation criteria should be checked against the Code once the project team has the text, and the table of audiences above should be amended to show any mandatory reporting duties [verify].
The strategy phase gives the home a considered answer to what it will do. For JHA, the illustrative result is eight tailored protocols, a posture of respond and defend, five categories of preventive measures, and a communication plan that recognises the many audiences with a stake in a crisis. These pieces now need to be assembled into a single, usable document. Chapter 6 explains how to develop the plan, make it clear and accessible, distribute it and train people to use it.
Continue reading: Chapter 6, Implementing Plan Development Phase as part of the Crisis Management Planning Methodology for Jamiyah Home for the Aged, shows how to assemble the plan, make it usable under pressure and train people to use it.