Disaster Recovery Journal Summer 2023

minimum, with multiple shocks accentuat ing divergent trajectories. In other words, uncertain times. Global risks have shifted, and there is a major focus on three issues: economic, geopolitical, and societal. All three create more destabilization and unpredictable risks. Take for example, the economic outlook. Inflation in many countries remains stubbornly high, and some coun tries have slipped into a recession. The global banking community shuddered at the collapses of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks in the U.S., triggering concerns which lead to the demise of Credit Suisse in Europe. As of this writ ing, everyone appears on edge, waiting for the next shoe to drop. The geopolitical situation is tenuous at best. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has wide-ranging impacts far beyond either of those borders, including the destabi lization of the region, famine in Africa, fear of greater war in Europe, nuclear threats, and the migration of millions of refugees. The China-Taiwan conflict is raising tensions, and there is a growing fear of the potential for escalation and possible war between the two and what it could mean for the U.S. and other western nations. Numerous countries in Africa and South America are experienc ing major uprisings, including the turmoil in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, as well as the instability in Western Africa. Things are very unstable, and it doesn’t matter whether your organization has locations or does work abroad – these are very challenging times. The third big wild card is the impact societally worldwide. As noted at the start of this article, the societal fissures run deep, wide, and remain to this day. The erosion of social cohesion and soci etal polarization is felt globally. There is a widening gap and polarization in values and equality such as immigration, gender, reproductive rights, ethnicity, religion, and climate. The economic and geopo litical issues have created a cost-of-living crisis, a serious impact to heathcare pro viders and systems, a severe mental health deterioration in all ages, lost education,

and earning potential in our youth, all fueled by misinformation and disinforma tion campaigns on social media and other information venues. What is a Business Continuity/ We need to focus on three critical crisis management skills to manage through the issues raised above: situational awareness, effective crisis management programs, and crisis communication. Situational awareness How can we plan for what is ahead if we are not getting the appropriate intelli gence to do so? Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process, and com prehend the critical elements of infor mation regarding an emerging situation or incident. It’s simply knowing what is going on around you! As crisis managers, we all know that situational awareness is essential for our survival. It requires we conduct two distinct activities: n Collect: observe, acquire, and compile the information. n Process: assess and validate the information and orient yourself to the possible impacts. Sometimes this can leave us feeling like we are drinking out of a firehose! How do you manage all the information? This requires carefully planning with hopefully a plan and tools that have been thought out and practiced in advance. You will need to consider these questions when doing this yourself or working with potential vendors to assist you: n What are your information sources, where do you find them, and whom do you trust? n How do you assess the information? n How can you validate the information? n How do you display it in a meaningful way so that decisionmakers can take in the information, make decisions, and then act? Effective crisis management program An effective crisis management team Crisis Management Professional to Do?

starts by having an overall program that includes a team, plan, and process in place for every location in your organization. (Any place you have a shingle out could be where “the bad thing” could happen.) The plans and teams of course must fit the size and mission of that location but at minimum, every location needs a team to respond to a crisis. Consider a structure which might look like this: n Tier One: a strategic (executive) and tactical (level below) at the headquarters. n Tier Two: larger offices need an appropriately sized team. n Tier Three: maybe one or two people tasked to assess and notify HQ. n All locations need a team and process to report up. Of course, plans, training, and exer cises are essential for every location. Consider this when looking at an overall crisis program: n There must be a plan for all these levels with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and authorities. n Every location needs a designated incident assessment team to evaluate all potential threats and make the decision as to whether to activate the team and plans; they must be given the authority to act as well as the responsibility. n They must be trained in their roles. n At minimum, conduct an annual exercise – ideally a couple of smaller exercises (short, ripped-from-the-news types) and one robust simulation. Crisis Communication Finally, crisis communications are essential. Effective crisis communica tions require an established team and process that brings all company commu nicators together to ensure coordinated and accurate communications to all the identified key stakeholders in a timely manner. This cannot be made up “on the fly!” Ideally you bring all your company communicators together under one roof to ensure consistent and timely commu-

12 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SUMMER 2023