Almost all plans have team activation as the first step after notification. That's how emergency management plans work and it makes sense. Communication is a big job, and the tendency for a strong communicator to try to do it all, especially in the early moments, is very strong. It's also natural to have multiple competing priorities in the early stages of a response. Everything needs to be done right now — and it should. Activation should start as early as possible, but so should communication.
So why do I say start communicating first? Because if you don't, if you wait until your team arrives and gets organized, you will likely start your communication in a hole. News about visible events goes out very quickly — often from direct observers who record what they see to the media to the world. When those interested know something is going on that involves you, they will check with you. Check the facts, see what you know, see what you are saying. Mostly they will do this by checking your website or social media channels. If they consider their relationship with you to be close and important they may check email or for text or phone messages. When? When they first hear, which may be from 10 to 30 minutes after the first word goes out.
This problem came to the fore for me a number of years ago when I heard a FEMA guy talking about communication during Hurricane Katrina. Communication, as you may remember, was mostly abysmal and largely nonexistent, at least for the first critical days stretching into weeks. His answer was that they were busy setting up the JIC and operational office for FEMA, so how could they be expected to communicate while they were getting the pieces in place?
Working in the oil industry and preparing for major events through large-scale drills, I ran into the same problem. The plans called for notification of the local team, then arrival of the "away team" within 24 to 48 hours. Just getting established in the communication location, getting laptops up and running, and getting the team organized would take a couple hours. In the meantime (this was pre-social media), the news helicopters would be circling overhead and we would be silent.
There had to be a way to start the communication prior to getting everyone in their seats. The answer to me started with digital communications and a prepared "dark site." That's what we called it then. A site that was fully loaded with prepared initial statements and templates that were approved by management, legal and everyone else who thought they needed a crack at it. The templates were bare minimum so they could be quickly filled in with the relevant facts. Basically they said, an event has happened, all appropriate authorities have been notified, the emergency response team is responding, we have no information available at the moment as to size, impact, injuries, etc. We are sorry for (whatever, if appropriate), and we will post updated information to (this site) when it becomes available. Also, if possible we provided a phone number. That was it.
Now, I have to say that was about 13 years ago. I am surprised to see that this process of creating initial statement templates, getting them pre-approved and launching on digital channels isn't the standard process. Most plans, as mentioned earlier, start with team activation.
I'd love to hear from you on this important topic. Am I wrong to think that this is a practical and necessary solution to the need for speed? Assuming one person is responding initially, is it wrong for him or her to delay activating the team to get that initial statement out? Is there more upside than downside in doing it this way versus the traditional way? Share your thoughts — the only way we can really learn is from each other.
