The ACID test

For once the recent news coming out of Northern Ireland had nothing to do with ‘the troubles’ or any kind of sectarian violence. Elsewhere, WikiLeaks was making the headlines, but in The Province it was WaterLeaks that was the big story. Large sections of the population were without mains supply and Northern Ireland Water, the company responsible, was caught up in a full-scale operational crisis.

At Crisis Solutions we give organisations the tools to create a structured crisis response. One such tool is the ACID test. During a crisis, such as that faced by NI Water, the crisis team could have used this checklist to cover the following critical areas:

Activation
Communication
Information Management
Decision-making

In this 'top tips' we look at Activation and Communication. Activation means getting the right people and resources quickly in place to deal with the crisis. For example, if someone on the crisis team is on holiday, how do we get their deputy briefed, in place and ready?

Have we considered how we maintain our capability during a crisis that lasts several days, or weeks?

Having a clear activation process, ensuring the right skills and resources are available at the right time defines the best organisations.

The need to Communicate effectively cannot be over emphasised. Identify key messages and communicate promptly with staff, the media, customers and suppliers.

Don’t allow an information gap to open up, become a trusted source for all information concerning the incident and make sure your messages keep in touch with the public mood.

Are we using appropriate media channels for each audience? Have we got the right skills available - not just people who are skilled at good news stories?

Next time we’ll look at Information Management and Decision-Making.