Crisis Management – People are the key
By definition a crisis is something for which there is no plan and preperation. I have found that the organizations that respond best in these siutations are the ones who are well organized and have solid day to day operations. These organizations function very well in their day to day environment. They do not move from crisis to crisis. A crisis is an unusal event.
The key to successfully handling a crisis situation is people. Yes, it is good to have some sort of skelital plan with leadership designations and maybe some pre-staged resources. A crisis is generally an all hands on deck situation. Everyone pitches in at full speed for as long as it takes. That is why day to day operations cannot include crisis response. You will burn out your people.