Establish Crisis Communication Team: Roles and Responsibilities

Introduction

The Crisis Communication Planning (CCP) Team will divide up and assign with the responsibility for the development of different aspects of the Crisis Communication Plan. Subsequently, the team decides who will be on point for management roles in the event of certain kinds of crises.

Different Roles for Different Crisis

It is important to understand that in a Command Centre Operations Team and a Crisis Communication Team, particularly in large-scale operational response to an industrial accident or natural disaster, managers will likely take on different or expanded roles. This is especially true when one is involved in a crisis response involving multiple agencies or organisations. The Crisis Communication Team, Command Centre Operations Team and Incident Management Team (IMT) often find themselves leading or working with people they do not often come in contact with, or they have never met.

Expectation and Suitability of Roles

During the start of the Crisis Communication planning process, the Crisis Communication Planning Team needs to:

• Establish this expectation of the newly appointed Crisis Communication Team.
• Define the key roles.
• Identify who is suitable for the tasks.

Training for a second-nature response is the goal, so it makes good sense to the member of the Crisis Team responsible for communications to handle the Communications Planning Team, the lawyer of the legal team and so on.

Public Relations/ Corporate Communication

• Ensure accurate and timely public response is being made and develop press releases and interface with the media proficiently.
• Coordinate media response with the site’s public relations member.
• Incorporate legal advice in communications.
• Prepare updates for executives and arrange executive travel to the incident scene.
• Advise the incident scene in media relations

Communication Liaison

A communication liaison handles the interaction with people affected by an emergency. For example, in a hostage situation, the liaison is family members' direct point of contact.

He or she will privately relay information to relatives about the situation. This person often does not communicate with the media. The communication liaison can be anyone in the organisation who has good communication skills, can show empathy and is not easily frazzled by stressful or emotional situations.

Legal

An organisation faced with a crisis, such as a massive recall, needs to protect itself legally. Legal experts on Crisis Communication Teams focus on the situation at hand instead of everyday legal concerns. The detailed roles are to:

• Provide legal counsel and advice to the Crisis Communication Team
• Coordinate with the Legal Coordinator at the incident scene and arranges for external legal support as needed.
• Participate in communication preparation and provide advice on securing the incident scene for subsequent investigation.

For instance, in a product recall situation, the Legal Team researches laws and regulations to ensure that the organisation is adhering to the proper rules. The Legal Team's efforts extend past the original crisis to include long-term monitoring of legal pitfalls, such as lawsuits against the organisation. Usually, the Legal Team Leader is supported by some lawyers reporting to the head of in-charge.

Emergency Services Liaison

The emergency services liaison works closely with police, fire, and medical responders during a crisis. For example, during a hostage situation, the emergency services liaison will provide responders with maps of the building and security footage. The liaison is usually the head of security or a high ranking guard in the organisation.

Reference

Goh, M. H. (2015). A Manager's Guide to Implementing Your IT Crisis Communication Plan. Business Continuity Management Specialist Series. Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.

Extracted from "Establish Crisis Communication Team: Roles and Responsibilities"

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