If 2020 prepared us for anything, it was how to react to an unprecedented event.  This last year felt like living a real life science fiction event dreamed up by the likes of Stephen King.  But even with the challenges we encountered, the pandemic also showed all of us the strength of the human spirit to overcome significant, unexpected challenges.  Now that we have all lived an event of such a large scale, we have the benefit of hindsight as we move forward.  In order to prepare for potential future events, we first need to look back at what happened.

PwC has taken the time and created a very helpful guide to direct businesses as they go about this process.  We thought we would share with you an overview of their suggestions, especially in regards to crisis recovery plans.

Communication is key in all aspects of our lives and businesses, but nowhere else is it as important than it is when navigating a crisis.  Shockingly, PwC reported that only 37% of business leaders felt their board fully understands their company’s crisis management plan.  Now that things are moving back towards a return to normal is the best time to look back on what went right and what went wrong.

7 Questions to Ask Yourself

PwC states that now is the perfect time to take a look at what happened, what worked and what didn’t.  By doing this exercise, your business will be better prepared, more agile and better able to navigate the global crises.  Here are 7 questions they recommend you ask throughout the review process.

1. Did we have the right crisis team?  Did the correct executives, internal stakeholders and outside experts get involved?  And is the team you created sustainable if there should be an even longer crisis?
2. Did we have a crisis plan?  Was it the right one?  Did we even use it and was it effective?
3. Was there clear delineation of tasks and decision-making responsibilities?  Did it take too long?  Did we find any bottlenecks that affected our ability to react swiftly to the changing dynamics?
4. How well did we communicate?  Was the communication timely with the right amount of frequency?  Should we have been more bold – or less?
5. Did we have all necessary stakeholders involved and did we address all their concerns?
6. How well did we respond to feedback from both stakeholders and customers?  How well did we understand what our competitors were doing during the crisis and were we able to respond effectively?
7. When looking at our technology, did you have the right tools and data in place? Is there a technology solution we should have had in place that would have eased the burden of the crisis response?

Are you ready? 

No one likes to plan ahead for a crisis, whether natural or caused by humans.  It’s like planning your funeral before you get sick.  However, chaos thrives when you fail to plan effectively. As painful and hard as it can be, it is vital to your businesses ability to survive and thrive when once in a lifetime events, such as a global pandemic, arrive.

Trust the Experts

SOL-IS Technology Solutions is here to help your company prepare for the unexpected!  Reach out to us at 952.279.2424 or online to see how we can help!