Concept. Issue and Crisis Management

Transcription

1 Concept Issue and Crisis Management Introduction Organisations have to deal with issues all the time and unfortunately, sometimes have to deal with crises. Crises can have catastrophic outcomes bringing down leaders, management regimes, products and companies. Failure to manage crises well is a crisis of management. Issues in an organisation are often seen as very much less threatening and annoyances to be dealt with as necessary and sometimes ignored. How can crises be managed well? How is the management of issues linked to crisis management? Issue Versus Crisis The word crisis conjures images of a sudden, perhaps unforseen threatening event. The word issue on the other hand usually indicates a problem that may or may not be serious. The dictionary 1 will describe an issue as an important topic or problem for debate or discussion and a crisis as a time of intense difficulty or danger. From an organisational point of view issues are the diverse range of problems that arise from operating a business the term does not denote scope or severity of the problem. Crises are problems with immediate threat and significant consequences. The scope of these consequences can be internal, external or both. Crisis Impact By its nature a crisis has the ability to threaten the operations or even existence of an organisation. A crisis may affect any or all parts of an organisation and can include: disruption to management chains for short or extended periods; denial of supply of raw materials or services to the organisation; disruption to internal processes and communications; loss of skills, experience and expertise of people; inability to deliver products/services to consumers; loss of morale; and damage to reputation. Whilst any of these may be catastrophic the final point may be the most difficult to repair. 1 Oxford Dictionary of English ISO 9001 Cert. No. FS Prominence Pty Ltd ABN PO Box 66 Taigum QLD 4018 T (07) enquiries@prominenceconsulting.com.au Commercial in confidence 2012 Prominence Pty Ltd All rights reserved

2 Where do Crises Come From? Crises are often thought of as having unexpected timing and/or an unexpected source. Crises can be considered as developing from existing issues or unforseen contingencies. Existing Issues The majority of crises arise from existing issues. Organisations are typically a cauldron of issues waxing, waning, sometimes resolving themselves and often requiring management. Issues may also be difficult to assess and are often cloaked in politics and emotion (which may indicate other root issues themselves). The management of issues requires: proactive management does the organisation have the will to actively manage issues? management skills do individual managers have the skills to assess and handle issues? culture does the organisation have a culture of problem solving and engagement that is supported and demonstrated by leadership and management? structure are the organisational structures, roles, responsibilities and reporting aligned to issue management? working environment are the physical working environment and the emotional environment conducive to engagement, openness and issue management? organisational capabilities do structured organisational capabilities such as risk management and change management exist? Key failings are typically: failure to develop, manage and maintain a working environment where issues are minimised; failure to identify and assess issues as they arise particularly through risk management; and failure to address and resolve issues in a timely manner. A major role of issue management is to avoid the need for crisis management. management may be a crisis in itself! Poor issue Unforseen contingencies Crises can also arise from largely unforseen events such as natural disasters, significant supplier/customer closures/supply issues and accidents. It is impossible or difficult to prevent these types of events occurring, however the critical factor is to acknowledge that they can occur and to have a plan to deal with them. 2 of 6

3 What to do? Issue and Crisis Management Issues management is linked to crisis management in that issues management is used to minimise the likelihood of a crisis arising from issues that exist. That is, avoiding the need to manage avoidable crises. Some crises however are unavoidable and organisations need to have the plans and capabilities to management them. Manage Issues All managers, but in particular middle managers should be actively (and proactively) managing issues. Managing doesn t just mean dealing with the issues that blow up managers need to be able to undertake: issues identification the ability of management to identify emerging issues in the organisation is critical. This is supported by: a strong culture of employee engagement such that robust and open communication channels and forums exist; management skills to gain the trust of employees and collect sufficient information for assessment; and expertise and experience to proactively identify issues that will arise from planned organisational actions; issues analysis the ability to assess issues to determine risks and the actions required to resolve or mitigate issues. This is supported by: a sound and cohesive risk management approach across the organisation; and managers and/or subject matter experts skilled in risk analysis and the design of mitigation measures including roles and responsibilities and the specification of clear criteria for successful issue resolution; issues mitigation the ability to direct and undertake actions that address issues. This is supported by: organisational capabilities (HR, communications, technical, project management and other specialist capabilities) to address the issues; leadership, management and communication capability to drive implementation and assess progress and outcomes; and the ability of the organisation to adapt and change to minimise the chances of the issues arising again. 3 of 6

4 Prepare to Manage Crises Crisis management is not just about what an organisation should do in response to an event; it is also about what needs to be done to build the capability to provide the optimal response to any crisis. Crisis management has both proactive and reactive components. Proactive components include: 4 of 6 an audit to determine what vulnerabilities the organisation may have to crises, the risks relating to these and an assessment of the current capability to respond to crises; the development of detailed response plans that address vulnerabilities and risks and deal with both tangible (for example, continuity of operations) and less tangible (for example, morale or damage to reputation) yet just as critical aspects; establishing clarity about roles and responsibilities in a crisis and sources for capabilities and specialist expertise; and training of personnel and key stakeholders that may include scenario development and role plays. Reactive components include: ensuring that the capability exists at all times for a rapid response to a crisis in line with response plans; sound communication providing guidance to all stakeholders including the media and the public if required; continuous monitoring of progress and impact to ensure optimal management and accurate communications; and mechanisms to analyse crisis management outcomes and develop improvements. Critical Issues Both issues management and crisis management draw on capabilities from across the organisation. In both cases communication is critical to success in gaining the true picture, informing decisions, driving mitigation and informing stakeholders of outcomes. Embedding these capabilities in organisations can be challenging but a successful implementation will make them just another part of good management. Critical issues are: understand that the majority of crises start out as organisational issues; issues abound in any organisation and sorting the mostly harmless from the potential crises is difficult it requires a structured organisational approach to issues management coupled with appropriate management skills; issues management is about identifying issues that could escalate, developing approaches for mitigation and ensuring the implementation of mitigation measures;

5 some crises are unavoidable (such as natural disasters and other events outside of the organisation s control) so sound issue management must be backed up by a well planned crisis management regime; it is important to consider all potential impacts of crises including the critical area of damage to reputation which may be more difficult to repair than physical damage to assets and disruption to processes. Separate plans may need to be developed to address key areas of potential impact; leadership, culture, structures, management skills, organisational capabilities and communications all need to be aligned to manage issues well; risk management is a key tool for issue management, as are change management and human resource management capabilities; optimal response to crises requires preparation. Each organisation needs to be examined to determine vulnerabilities and risks. Response plans can then be developed and roles, responsibilities and communication channels and forums established. Employees must be trained; the best response to a crisis is rapid and informed. The capability must exist at all times to respond in accordance to response plans. Monitoring must be undertaken to keep stakeholders informed and ensure rapid responses to each turn of events; and no response plan or management regime will be perfect. Organisations must learn from the issues and crises that are managed and outcomes analysed to make improvements. Prominence has delivered consultancy services to the public and private sectors since 2003 and has a diverse and highly experienced team of consultants able to assist organisations in a wide range of areas including issue and crisis management. Services can be provided in conducting audits, facilitation and development of response plans and provision of skilled resources or advice. Key consultancy services include developing strategy, governance and business planning, assessing and building corporate capability and managing people and change. Advisory services, coaching and skilled contracting resources can also be provided. The Prominence website provides more detailed information about Prominence s consulting services and people. Prominence s methodology has elements that are carefully designed to provide numerous engagement points with the organisation during a project. This allows for productive participation by the organisation s personnel to build project ownership, allow stakeholders to understand the process and create the optimal state for acceptance of project outcomes. 5 of 6

6 Other Prominence Documents Further information regarding Prominence can be obtained using the contact details below. The following Profiles are available upon request. Prominence consulting services profile. Prominence document production investigation profile. Panel Arrangement Profiles for Federal, State and Local Government and Government Owned Corporations. The following Concept documents are also available: Change management Targeted surveys and information gathering Document production environment design The paperless office? Business processes: reengineer or improve? Knowledge management Managing processes Client focus Processes, standards, benchmarks and best practices Organisational measurement Flexible processes Usability Determining the scope of a review Knowledge, performance, innovation and risk Simplicity Challenging times Business process management Considering change Organisational health checks The role of the project sponsor Organisational structure design Building project ownership Building capability through skills transfer Usable business plans The benefits of austerity Communication Leadership, management and culture Employee engagement Middle management challenges The useable organisation Contact Us p a PO Box 66 Taigum Q 4018 w e enquiries@prominenceconsulting.com.au 6 of 6