Page 25 - the SyI Quarterly V3 digital (1)

My top ten tips for my clients are as follows: I give these in the hope that they may assist companies of any size to weather this storm
and to remember, “Do not decide on a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.

Most Crisis Management Plans (of which I have constructed and reviewed many) tend to be somewhat linear based methodologies
designed to cope (survive) a number of simplistic or commonplace incidents or events such as IT failures, cyber enabled crimes,
kidnaps, environmental systems failures (HVAC) etc, but experience shows us that such approaches are not suitable for a crisis
management incident of this nature (COVID-19) as previous/current approaches tend to be limited and are based on previous
knowledge and outcomes.

I am witnessing some companies struggling to cope with out-dated and cumbersome business continuity plans that are onerous,
difficult to implement and inflexible to say the least. Hopefully the following Top Ten Tips will assist with the Crisis Management
Meetings that are currently being held:

1. In respect of your Business Continuity and Crisis Management Plans, having a flexible, agile and focused approach is vital.
Every Company, no matter what size should develop their plans and capabilities to deal with the COVID-19 issue, understanding
it will hugely impact their working practices, procedures and will increase disruption across their companies for many months if
not years.
2. If organisations do not have the right skills within their Crisis Management Team (CMT), Business Continuity Team (BCT) or
Recovery Team (RT), seek the services of a qualified and experienced advisor as soon as possible (remember the Tree analogy).
3. Ensure that the CMT or BCT is meeting on a regular basis to start to ‘make sense’ of Covid-19 issues and how they will impact
your specific Company/sector.
4. It is vital that you commence ‘surveillance’ monitoring (sense-checking) of every aspect of your organisation (HR, Talent
Management, IT, Comms, 3rd Party Suppliers, Supply Chains, Stakeholders, Sponsors, Transport, etc).
5. Understand / assess what vulnerabilities you have and how to address them effectively i.e. risk reduction strategies, your
response capability, what contingencies you already have in place and is your recovery strategy still valid, useable and realistic?
6. Now is the time to strengthen / check your decision making abilities, if you are not sure obtain external verification / advice
from a trusted source.
7. Check any previous ‘lessons learned’ within your organisation or from your immediate network, similar organisations and
companies (SARS 2002 / H5N1 2008).
8. Hold weekly / daily CMT Meetings to manage and co-ordinate your current and longer terms responses and resources. Create
a meaningful agenda and remain focused on achieving all the stated aims/points. Be mindful of current updates from the
Government, Medical sources, Industry bodies etc.
9. If you do not have a dedicated Pandemic Plan, or your previous BC Plan is limited, develop one as soon as practicable.
Ensuring it is flexible, agile, capable and responsive.
10. It is critical to have a strategic approach to everything you do, use a mnemonic such as ‘SMEACS’ when planning and
responding to this latest crisis.

• Situation
• Mission
• Execution
• Administration
• Control
• Safety

Lastly, it is important to remember that there is no single right answer and that each company requires a bespoke solution to their
specific issues. If any person wants to know more around any of the above please contact me further and I will provide additional
information, advice and assistance. Good luck.

25