USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeff McAndrews, Megan Bouchier and Peter Gardner, FGS Global
3.3 Crisis Committees: Composition and Attributes Considering an Outside View Most companies will have some form of a cri- sis committee at the management level. At the board level, the responsibility for risk assess- ment and response typically lies with the audit committee, although some boards are establish- ing dedicated reputational risk committees. At the management level, the crisis working group should contain both internal representa- tives of the organisation and independent per- spectives from, for example, external legal and communications counsel – and it is recommend- ed that leaders engage external resources early in the committee building process to ensure the group is well-rounded. Representing Diversity of Thought Because every crisis is different, an ideal crisis group will also have members from various parts of the organisation who have the expertise to handle the many different forms a crisis may take. Still, depending on the crisis, the group may need to add additional skills, voices or sub- ject-matter experts to better navigate specific situations, and processes should be built that allow them to do so. Additional representatives from operations, compliance, security, human resources, government relations, finance, facili- ties management, information technology or investor relations should be identified in the event they are needed. Lastly, a physical location or alternative channels for electronic communi- cations should be considered ahead of time. Bringing a Team Together Ultimately, the most important feature of a cri- sis committee is a willingness to work together; a group that is willing and able to take advan- tage of the many perspectives and skills at the
• strategic use of data and feedback to assess, target, and fine-tune the crisis response dur- ing and after the event. 3.2 Internal Governance Crisis Response Infrastructure It is common and considered best practice to establish designated crisis committees or work- ing groups, along with protocols and the neces- sary operational mechanisms to enable the com- mittee to be notified, convene and implement those protocols in the event of a crisis. From a communications perspective, this typi- cally includes a rapid response system that iden- tifies who needs to sign off on any internal or external communications, and an expedited pro- cess for obtaining said approvals that eliminates unnecessary delay. It is important to include rep- resentatives across relevant business functions and stakeholder groups in the working group. The right group of representatives will depend on the type of crisis but typically includes legal, PR and investor relations and may also include human resources, government relations, IT/data- security and others. Similarly, it is important to determine the core spokespeople and chan- nels that will support each stakeholder group in delivering consistent messages, but tailored to specific audiences. Maintaining up-to-date contact lists of clients, shareholders, media and regulators also streamlines both communica- tions efforts and crisis assessment, which could inform how the crisis response takes shape in real time. Lastly, many organisations will desig- nate an Operations Room for severe crises that allows the core crisis team to work together in a focused and protected centralised location.
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