Manage Information

Information Management and Decision Making

The Command Centre is ultimately a centre for information management and decision-making. The primary purpose is to gather and process all the information required to plan for and respond quickly and effectively to potential incidents.

Monitoring in Command Centre

Proper information management and monitoring can help Crisis Management (CM) Team and Command Centre Operations (CCO) Team create, organise, exercise and execute their CM plans.

While Crisis Management (CM) plans often end up in binders or files, an exemplary information management system can make plans and supportive materials readily available to everyone.

The following functions should be performed:

Event Evaluation
Incident Logging
Team Tasking
Resource Deployment
Status Boards
Executive Briefings
Documentation

Track Event Information

An organization's command centre will manage response and recovery operations during a crisis by collecting intelligence to manage and control event information and response activities.

Information Flow and Tracking

Typically, the information flow (Figure below: Command Centre Information Tracking) will look something like this:

Receive information from different sources and interested parties
Notify possible disruption by stakeholders (Information Feed)
Sent alert message to the Command Centre
Evaluate alert messages by CCO Team Members
Open Incident Log to track each event
Use checklists to implement CM and IM procedures
Assign tasks according to the plan
Track resource allocation and task performance in the log
Update and brief status to stakeholders

Command Centre Information Tracking

Characteristics of Monitoring Function

All of this information will need to be managed and documented.

The CCO Team Leader needs to provide a robust command, control, and monitoring function, and this function should:

Be easy and efficient to use
Collect failure information to allow rapid and early response
Track multiple incidents and resources
Communicate activities across the enterprise
Provide documentation capability

Purpose of Operations Log

The Log is:

A management tool throughout an incident.
Used following the incident to establish the procedures followed or modified and the results of all such actions.

Manage Information	Activities (Within the Command Centre)
Process Incoming Information	Gather incoming messages, categorize, process, and display them to optimize decision-making.
Provide Assessment on Criticality of Incoming Incident	Make an initial assessment by CCO Team as to whether the information is indeed an emergency incident.
Log Crisis Operations	Post-incident on Operations Log once the incident is determined as a disruption or an emergency incident.
Execute Incident Response	Determine the CM and IM plan response type and prioritize the appropriate triage response.
Execute with No CM Response Plan	Activate a plan with similar response activities if no IM plan has been prepared.
Implement a Checklist (previously established best practices for responding to this type of event)	Activate, cross reference and modify the checklist that responds to the incident. Check completed tasks from the Operations Log when information flows back to the Command centre.
Create a Central Repository of Actions	Log all actions and resources utilized in responding to the incident in a central repository.
Track Resource Utilization	Throughout the entire response operation, all activities and resource utilizations are tracked against the response and recovery plan and the operating procedure checklist.
Track Task Performance	Each performance tracking and movement towards completion of the task are, once again, provided as feedback into the incident being managed and the Operations Log. These tasks will be tracked from their initiation through their completion and the ultimate closure of the entire incident.

Goh, M. H. (2016). A Manager’s Guide to Implement Your Crisis Management Plan. Business Continuity Management Specialist Series (1st ed., p. 192). Singapore: GMH Pte Ltd.

Extracted from Chapter 19: Information Management