When a crisis occurs, organisations must rapidly transition from preparedness to decisive action.
The effectiveness of this transition depends on well-defined during-crisis procedures that enable the Crisis Management Team (CMT) to establish command and control, assess the situation, make informed decisions, coordinate response activities, and communicate with stakeholders under intense time pressure.
This blog is the second in a three-part series on crisis procedures and focuses on the operational actions required after a crisis has been declared.
It provides a structured approach to managing the evolving situation, maintaining situational awareness, allocating resources, and ensuring that response efforts remain coordinated, timely, and aligned with organisational priorities throughout the crisis.
During-crisis procedures guide the CMT from activation through stabilisation and recovery.
A practical sequence is:
Activate → Assess → Stabilise → Decide → Communicate → Monitor → Recover
The sequence is not strictly linear. The CMT may repeat several stages as new information becomes available.
Activation procedures should confirm that:
A practical activation checklist may include:
The CMT should establish situational awareness before making major decisions.
The assessment should address:
The CMT should separate:
This prevents unverified information from driving decisions.
A Situation Report, or SitRep, provides a structured summary of the crisis.
It may include:
The SitRep should be concise, time-stamped and updated regularly.
Stabilisation aims to prevent the crisis from worsening.
Actions may include:
The CMT should confirm which stabilisation actions are operational and which require strategic approval.
The CMT should confirm its strategic priorities early.
Typical priorities are:
The order may change as the crisis develops.
Priorities should be recorded and communicated to supporting teams.
The CMT should apply a disciplined decision process.
Define the Issue
What decision is required?
Confirm Information
What is known, assumed and unknown?
Identify Options
What realistic choices exist?
Assess Consequences
Consider:
Confirm Authority
Who can approve the decision?
Make the Decision
Select the option that best supports crisis objectives.
Record the Rationale
Document why the decision was reasonable.
Assign Actions
Identify owners and deadlines.
Monitor the Outcome
Determine whether the decision achieved the intended result.
The Decision Log should record significant strategic decisions.
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Decision No. |
Time |
Issue |
Options |
Decision |
Rationale |
Decision Maker |
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D001 |
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The log should focus on material decisions rather than every routine action.
A clear decision record supports accountability, regulatory review, lessons learnt and organisational memory.
Communication should occur throughout the crisis.
The CMT should determine:
Communication should be:
Detailed communication procedures are addressed in Chapter 7.
The CMT should continuously monitor:
Monitoring allows the CMT to adjust priorities and decisions.
The situation should be reassessed at each meeting.
Recovery should begin while the crisis is still active.
The CMT should identify:
Recovery should be directed by organisational priorities rather than technical convenience alone.
For example, restoring a lower-value but technically simple system should not delay restoration of a critical customer service.
Every crisis action should have:
A practical Action Log may include:
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Action No. |
Action |
Owner |
Priority |
Deadline |
Status |
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A001 |
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Action status may be:
A CMT meeting without action management becomes a discussion rather than a coordinated response.
Actions may be classified as:
Critical
Required immediately to protect life, safety, critical services or legal obligations.
High
Required soon to prevent further deterioration.
Medium
Important but not immediately time-critical.
Low
Can be addressed after stabilisation.
Priority should reflect consequence and urgency.
A practical meeting cycle may include:
Meeting frequency should reflect the speed of the crisis.
During the initial phase, meetings may occur every 30 to 60 minutes. As the situation stabilises, the frequency may reduce.
Prolonged crises require formal handovers.
The handover should include:
The outgoing and incoming leaders should confirm the transfer.
Poor handover can result in duplicated actions, missed obligations and inconsistent decisions.
The procedures should address prolonged operations.
Consider:
Senior leaders are also vulnerable to fatigue.
Crisis procedures should protect decision quality throughout the event.
The actions taken during a crisis often determine whether an organisation successfully contains the incident or experiences escalating operational, financial, and reputational consequences.
By implementing structured during-crisis procedures, organisations can maintain leadership, coordinate response teams effectively, communicate with confidence, and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. This blog has examined the operational response phase of the crisis lifecycle.
The next blog in this series, Developing Post-Crisis Procedures, explores how organisations transition from response to recovery by restoring normal operations, conducting post-incident reviews, capturing lessons learned, and embedding continuous improvements that strengthen future crisis preparedness and organisational resilience.
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.
To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the CM-300 Crisis Management Implementer [CM-3] and the CM-5000 Crisis Management Expert Implementer [CM-5].
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