Why use a checklist for crisis management?

Business world is such an environment where even slightest unforeseen hazards can have a detrimental effect on one’s corporate confidence and future, in general. However, there is a way for companies to mitigate these risks. They turn to their crisis management plan which can be referred to as a survival strategy in the event of unexpected business developments.

The use of a checklist in crisis management helps to plan ahead and to identify all possible threats in order to develop crisis strategies. Checklists also facilitate the exchange of information among the members of the crisis management team.

This article informs about the following topics:

1. What belongs in a crisis management plan

2. Crisis management planning with checklist

3. A digital tool for crisis management with checklist

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN?

Before implementing the plan, it is necessary to ensure that all the specific risks are considered and the remedial procedures are prepared. Furthermore, to be certain of the viability of the plan, it should undergo testing. Once, the process is proved to be working, the employees can be trained accordingly.

Tailoring your CMP requires following these procedures:

1. Selecting the crisis management team members.
2. Defining what the crisis actually is.
3. Developing monitoring and the identifiers of the crisis.
4. Designating those responsible for eliminating the risk.
5. Creating a plan of informing the employees of the hazard.
6. Establishing specific assessment criteria for the negative consequences of a hazard and identifying the response procedures.
7. Developing a social media strategy.
8. Regular testing and updating of the plan.

Apart from crisis management: risk management plans

Whereas a crisis management plan is mainly aimed at minimising the damage caused by unforeseen events, a risk management plan creates concrete measures to avoid such events from the outset. If the risk management plan is unable to contain a problem, the crisis management plan intervenes to cushion the negative impact on the company. In addition, a business continuity plan outlines the measures the company will take to ensure that it remains viable by systematically deploying its remaining resources until the status quo is restored.

Planning crisis management with checklist

Not all crisis management plans are prepared in the same way. Although the details may vary depending on the preferences, capabilities and resources of each company, the following points should be considered when creating a crisis management checklist:

1. SAFETY FIRST

When a crisis occurs and the safety of employees is at risk, a good company is prepared to let productivity suffer in its place. This includes, for example, flexible working arrangements when the risk of a virus infection threatens, as with Covid-19. Although some organisational functions may be affected by the new regulation, proactive companies putting the safety of their employees first.

2. Live transparency

When a crisis arises, employers are well-advised to communicate the situation honestly, clearly and effectively to their employees rather than trying to cover it up. Employees want to be able to trust their superiors and managers, and therefore feel that they are privy to all the details of an organisational crisis, especially if they may end up being directly affected. If companies are honest with their employees, especially in crises, this pays off in the form of greater trust in the work of management and executives and is ultimately reflected in the way they carry out their day-to-day work.

3. Not to speculate

Companies that choose to keep crisis details vague, if not completely hidden from their employees, leave room for speculation. This undermines trust in management, as they almost always cast a bad light on the company. A good company considers it necessary to keep its employees informed to prevent rumours from arising in the first place. A culture of open communication about problems should prevail in the company to create trust and maintain the possibility of productive cooperation.

4. Communication with customers and stakeholders

Regardless of whether a company is facing an internal crisis or a global crisis that the whole world is dealing with, customers and stakeholders expect clear and honest communication. There must be open communication about the situation and the measures to be taken, including the necessary adjustments in terms of commitments to customers and stakeholders.

Solve crisis management with digital checklists

The focus on safety and productivity is the key to achieving and maintaining successful operations - even in a crisis. With Lumiform's mobile app and desktop software, managers and key stakeholders can create effective crisis management plans using checklists to minimise the impact of different types of crises.

Digital checklists facilitate the implementation of the measures from a crisis management plan. All data is immediately available for the entire crisis management team. In this way, problems during implementation are immediately detected and can be immediately corrected.

With Lumiform, managers and executives benefit from the following advantages when planning:

• With the flexible form construction kit, adjustments can be made to the checklists again and again.


• The digital platform facilitates the frictionless cooperation in the team.


• Real-time data about the implementation of the measures. In this way, crisis measures can be continuously optimised based on the data obtained.


• Actions can be assigned to the appropriate personnel with priority levels to ensure that the crisis management tasks are completed on time, and nothing is overlooked.


• The automatically generated reports can be sent immediately to customers and stakeholders.

To make it easier to get started in crisis management with a checklist, we have put together several templates that can be adapted to the individual needs of the company at any time.