ICM
Crisis Debriefings
Overview
ICM provides organizations that have gone through a business disruption
with a realistic assessment of how the crisis was handled so they
will be in a position to respond more effectively in the future. The
debriefings are a valuable management tool in that they help to:
- Pinpoint areas where improvements can be made
- Provide valuable insights into people who were extraordinary in
their response to the crisis so appropriate recognition can be made.
- Give the debriefing participants a chance to make useful suggestions
or vent their wrath about frustrating problems without concern about
their employment.
How
the Debriefings are Conducted
- The client's management team meets with ICM consultants to define the
types of information the organization would like to glean from the
debriefings and the list of people who should be interviewed. That
list usually includes top management and outsiders, such as consultants and legal advisors, involved in the crisis, as well as the company's crisis
response team members.
- A questionnaire is developed by ICM based on the client's
objectives. The questions are then sent out to debriefing participants
with a memo from senior management which indicates the purpose of
the debriefing and the provisions for assuring complete objectivity.
The rules are that comments coming from the interviews will not be attributed to the person who made them.
- ICM schedules and then conducts the interviews with the debriefing
participants. The time allotted is 30-45 minutes, which permits
multiple interviews to be scheduled at one location on an hourly
basis during the same day. Group interviews may be scheduled, and
may generate immediate confirmation of specific points from other
participants. However, those interviews tend to result in less candid
observations.
- Whenever possible the interviews are conducted on a face-to-face
basis because of the additional information or collateral material
that may come up during the discussion. In some instances the interviews
have to be by phone because of schedule conflicts or the location
of the participant.
- To ensure consistency in the debriefing discussions, each of
the interviewees is asked to respond to the same series of open-ended
questions that were sent out in advance. If the participant agrees,
the interview is recorded to ensure any of their quotable quotes
will be transcribed accurately.
Analysis
and Recommendations
In reviewing notes and tapes from the debriefings, relevant comments
are transcribed and indexed according to the question and also by
specific departments, consultants, or organizations that they
reference. The indexed comments allow consensus viewpoints to be compiled
in the analysis, along with quotable quotes on specific subjects to
be included in the report.
A written report summarizes the findings from the interviews and
makes specific recommendations based on ICM's assessment of the discussions.
The report includes non-attributed quotes that provide a consensus
or make important points in response to each of the questions that
were asked.
Depending on the crisis, separate sections will be set up in the
report to address specific issues. They will include quotes or references
to the departments, government agencies or other organizations involved
so attention can be given to improving the effectiveness of the clients
response in the future to this type of crisis or business disruptions
with similar ramifications.
The debriefing report and recommendations will be summarized into
a 30-minute presentation with visuals of the key questions and quotes
to illustrate the major points being made. ICM will summarize the
debriefing report in a meeting with top management and elaborate on
the implications of specific comments made by the participants without
indicating their identities. These discussions, as well as the debriefing
report itself, give top management an indication of the nuances regarding
sensitive questions and issues and invariably result in constructive
actions that benefit the organization. |