An enterprise faces many threats to it’s existence. Some threats are external and can pose complex challenges, others are internal and come with their own set of unique issues. During any crisis, an organization has a responsibility to react. Some business do this well, others fail miserably. In this podcast we hear from Dermot McCarthy…
A military background isn’t necessary to run a successful tabletop exercise or war gaming scenario. The idea of war gaming as a resource to practice strategic planning and increasing your readiness for the worst-case scenarios has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is a proven method used by organisations, the military,…
Crisis Management Teams Should Always Have a Toolkit That Supports Them During the Crisis. One of the questions that I get asked most often is “what are some of the most common mistakes you see as you visit various clients?” Other than companies not being committed to exercising (another article, another time) my biggest concern…
How does your organization prepare for crises? Have you been through the planning process thoroughly? In this interview, we speak with WeWork’s crisis and emergency preparedness manager Michael Gladstone. He talks about the difference between planning in high threat places and those safer or less vulnerable environment. He also spoke about technology and how it’s…
A Crisis Simulation exercise is a great opportunity for a team of professionals to come together and address gaps and issues they may have when it comes to an event. It is a controlled environment for you to understand individual skillsets during a crisis and how the organization can communicate and coordinate during one. As…
Cautionary Tales from Morgan Stanley and the U.S. Olympic Committee From big corporations to non-profits, from government entities like the U.S. Congress to schools and universities, all types of organizations are firing high-profile men for sexual misconduct. Whether the firings are justified or not is a big question, but either way, one of two crises…
If it is your responsibility to control, facilitate or join a team of Crisis Management professionals, you are likely to hit some sizable hurdles should this team not have a strong foundation already in place. When dealing with a large organization with employees from all backgrounds, you will quickly understand, that few people will be…
2017 has seen some historic storms in North America and South Asia. There’s been a significant increase in cyber-attacks on major businesses such as Equifax and Uber. In the UK the NHS was affected by the WannaCry attack which caused a massive disruption and embarrassment for the NHS. There were many more crises throughout the…
It’s been a busy year for crises for people and companies alike. Some of the largest, best-known brands found themselves under fire for months, many with a series of scandals that just kept coming. Some of these crises were caused directly by the caught-on-video bad behavior of key executives, such as Uber’s founder and former…
Mark Hoffman, who we interviewed this past summer for the PreparedEx Podcast, wrote a great article for the International Crisis Management Conference (ICMC), “Ransomware as a Crisis“. In his article, Mark discusses the importance of cyber security in your crisis management program as well as the tool he developed, the Cyber Security Playbook, which walks the Crisis…