Crisis Stages: Pre Crisis

Pre-crisis Stage

The pre-crisis stage is an opportunity to detect and correct early warning signals to improve foresight, but what exactly are these unforeseen signals? To be exact, signals lie in the cognitive filters that make up people’s interpretations of the world. They are called heuristics. New information is classified based on experience.

Reduce

Identify and implement a set of activities that prevent a crisis, reduce the chance of an incident or reduce the damaging effects of the crisis.

Prepare

Development and implementation of the CM Program, CM Plan implementing procedures and training.

Prevention

Think of the Pre-crisis stage as "Prevention".  It involves seeking to reduce known risks that could lead to a crisis. This is part of an organization’s risk management program. Preparation consists in creating the crisis management plan, selecting and training the crisis management team, and conducting exercises to test the crisis management plan and crisis management team.

During this stage, the crisis management team should brainstorm a comprehensive list of all possible crises that could impact the organization. This includes considering past incidents and ensuring that proper resources are in place to avoid repeat situations. Reviewing this list can help identify situations that are preventable by modifying existing processes and procedures.

An organisation with an advanced crisis management plan knows precisely what to do when disaster strikes. This includes generating a list of possible responses and best- and worst-case scenarios.

From the crisis communication perspective, designating a company spokesperson, a list of available resources, and a step-by-step plan to combat crises helps handle the situation in a professional, unified manner, avoiding the onset of additional chaos.

Meanwhile, the entire crisis management team should be included when developing the plan and should be aware of all final processes and procedures.

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