Incident Management (IM) Team

Without delay, the ABC COMPANY LIMITED’s Incident Management Team will come together and:

Manage the incident locally.
Liaise with the emergency services.
Take action to protect staff and recover assets.
Ensure the continuity of business operations

Core IM Team Members

Area or Local Branch Manager.
Local Premises Manager and/or Head of Administration.
Manager IT.
Functional business managers.
A Coordinator/Administrative assistant

IM Team Coordinators

The role of the Coordinator is critical to the success of the emergency response. Unlike other members of the team, whose responsibilities remain broadly functionally based, Coordinators will:

Establish and secure Command Centres or source for available locations that is suitable to be equipped and run.
Gather for meetings, prepare agendas and minutes.
Report to senior management, as required.
Maintain comprehensive records of the incident, in particular, all decisions and the reasons they were taken

Activating the Plan

All incidents should be reported in the first instance to the IT Team Leader Two or in his absence, the IM Team Leader Three. The IM Team Leader Two will confirm the seriousness of the incident and, if appropriate, notify the IM Team Leader One. IM Team Leader One will:

Confirm the information and nature of the emergency.

Decide whether to activate the ABC COMPANY LIMITED’s Crisis Communication Plan if the local incident warrants such action.

General Considerations

Have the implications of the incident been fully established?
Can the incident be managed efficiently by a single manager?
Does the IM Team Leader/business have the resources to deal with the situation effectively?
Is the incident likely to attract media attention?
Could the incident seriously affect the reputation or liquidity of ABC COMPANY LIMITED?
Will the situation continue and escalate, is the outcome uncertain?
Is the government and/or other regulatory bodies likely to be involved?
After having a consultation with the police and other authorities, is their advice consistent with the initiation of the plan?

Incidents that will Activate the Plan

Denial of buildings and resources.
Terrorism, Civil Unrest and Demonstrations.
Kidnap and Hostage Situations.
Extortion/ Blackmail.
Threats against People.
Threats against Property.
Industrial Actions.

Immediate Actions by Incident Management Teams

Take any immediate action required to contain the situation.
Activate the Command Centre.
Start diary of events.
Obtain all relevant information.
Decide initial actions and objectives.
Nominate a spokesperson, if necessary, and prepare initial press statement.
Inform ABC COMPANY LIMITED staff of the incident and what they should do next.
Review security arrangements and establish secure communications.
Notify third parties when necessary (police, regulators, etc.).

External Contact and Communication

Effective communication is essential in maintaining a sense of order and reassuring both staff and public. Failure in this regard could damage the reputation and profitability of ABC COMPANY LIMITED. In a crisis, it is vital that the Board (Crisis Management) Team control contact with customers, the media and external agencies. If necessary, the Chairman will communicate personally with the public, the media, regulators and other institutions.

Staff

Remind staff that they are not to talk to the media and explain the preferred method of dealing with requests for information from outside the company.

Contact Telephone Numbers

Manager Two is responsible for maintaining lists of emergency telephone numbers for all key staff members of the Incident Management Team and will keep up-to- date records of all key contacts for their area of responsibility.

It is vital that contact numbers must be updated immediately after changes have been made.

Preparation

Risk Control

Employees at all levels have a role to play in eliminating and reducing the exposure to crises by ensuring that they comply with policies and standards in areas such as operational risk, security, and health and safety.

Planning

Manager Two is responsible for producing, maintaining and validating the Crisis Communication Plan.
Plans should be tailored to meet the particular needs of the business, and will include matters such as Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery.
Team members should be named, and specific responsibilities should be allocated in these plans

Threat Monitoring

The Premises Manager is responsible for monitoring environmental threats and for providing warning of impending crises. The responsibility for monitoring business threats lies with the appropriate Functional Heads in conjunction with the Manager One.

Training and Evaluation

Manager Two is responsible for devising and implementing a crisis management training and evaluation programme in conjunction with the Managing Director.

Command Centres

Incidents that are likely to last more than a few hours are best managed from Command Centres that are separate from areas where routine business is conducted. Command Centres can either by dedicated rooms set aside and equipped for immediate use or offices earmarked for emergencies with essential equipment identified in advance.

Care of Staff

At all levels throughout the company, reliable means of relaying information and instructions concerning crisis situations to staff both at work and at home should be devised. To ensure that messages will be able to reach all staff after the office hours, telephone trees/call-out lists should be drawn up.

Incident Action Lists

The following pages contain action points for crisis situations. These are not exhaustive nor will all of the points be appropriate in every circumstance. They are intended to assist in formulating detailed plans for specific situations and include:

Denial of buildings and resources.
Terrorism, Civil Unrest and Demonstrations.
Kidnap and Hostage Situations.
Extortion/ Blackmail.
Threats against People.
Threats against Property.
Industrial Actions.

An outline is provided for the type of preparation needed to equip and establish an Emergency Response Centre.

Denial of Critical Buildings and Resources

Having verified and assessed the nature and extent of the problem, refer to the implementing the Business Continuity Plan or IT Disaster Recovery Plan as appropriate.

Command Centre

Setup Command Centre.
Identify resources for Command Centre

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 "Incident Management (IM) Team"

More Information About Crisis Communication Blended Learning

To know more about our blended learning program and when the next course is scheduled, feel free to contact our friendly course consultant colleagues via sales.ap@bcm-institute.org. They are the BL-CC-3 Blended Learning CC-300 Crisis Communication Implementer and the BL-CC-5 Blended Learning CC-5000 Crisis Communication Expert Implementer.