Written by James Pettigrew, FEI Program and Project Manager

Let’s face it: when a crisis occurs and teams are under pressure to put certain processes in place, it’s not ideal to discover an important piece of the puzzle—knowledge—is missing because only one person knows how the process works.

Sound familiar? It could mean trouble if it’s your responsibility to manage times of crisis. If there is no backup employee or process documentation in place, managing most crises will fail.

To combat these knowledge gaps, take the opportunity during crisis drilling procedures to place someone different in key positions. For example, an employee who doesn’t typically solve problems as they arise can serve as the technical resource responsible for supporting staff and the area affected by the crisis event in order to gain experience on troubleshooting different situations.

Make sure there is up-to-date documentation supporting each type of possible crisis scenario discovered after completing a drilling assessment, too. Rotating staff to different positions will create backup personnel and establish coverage during most situations.

To assure your processes are where they need to be, consider consulting with a provider that has an extensive background in crisis management services. Such providers can assist in the crisis planning process, review the plan your organization currently has in place and facilitate drilling practice and administration.

If others are trained in key areas of knowledge, be it technical or operational, then you can manage most crisis events successfully. If this key information is with only one person, well . . . good luck job hunting.