This document discusses effective incident management. It emphasizes the importance of advance planning, having clear roles and responsibilities, and effective communication. It outlines frameworks for private sector incident management that involve situational awareness, executive leadership teams, cross-functional incident teams, and incident management teams. It provides examples of effective leadership during real-world crises and emphasizes developing strong situational awareness during incidents.

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EFFECTIVE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
How to turn an incident into an opportunity for your business through effective incident management
Bryan Strawser - @bryanstrawser
Principal Consultant & CEO, Bryghtpath LLC

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Bryan Strawser
Principal Consultant & CEO
Bryan Strawser is Principal Consultant & CEO at Bryghtpath LLC, who has more than 21
years of experience.
.
+1-612-235-6435
bryan.strawser@bryghtpath.com
www.bryghtpath.com
linkedin.com/in/bryanstrawser
twitter.com/bryanstrawser

4. We are a strategic advisory firm that specializes in global risk, business continuity,
emergency management, crisis communications, and public affairs

5. “May you live in interesting times…”
- Chinese Proverb

7. 7Copyright © 2015 by Bryghtpath LLC | bryghtpath.com | +1-612-235-6435 | bryan@bryghtpath.com

9. Incident Management
The active management of a
disruption or escalating situation

10. Incident Management
“The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining…”
- John F. Kennedy
Things to plan in advance:
• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Decision making rights pre-defined
• Single source of truth communication
• Communication products / messages / templates
• Cross-functional coordination

11. Incident Leadership
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Characteristics of a strong incident or crisis leader
• Cross-Functional Leadership
– Lead up (vertically)
– Lead across (horizontally)
• Be both strategic and tactical
– Strategic: See the entire organization and external influences
– Tactical: Be willing to work on really simple processes where needed
• Understands that success never happens within a silo
• Can pivot in a moment
• Possesses extraordinary situational awareness

13. The Five Dimensions of Meta-Leadership
• The person of the meta-leader
• Situational Awareness
• Lead your silo
• Lead up
• Lead connectivity
Harvard University – National Preparedness Leadership Initiative
Dr. Lenny Marcus (l)
Dr. Barry Dorn (r)

14. “The Basement”

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16. How to Lead during a crisis
Eric McNulty, Harvard Business Review, December 2013
• Ensure certainty about decision making and
strategic messaging
• Understand Stakeholders
– Map out your stakeholders
– Understand each has unique needs for information and
reassurance
– Develop story arcs for each
• Understand that the crisis will evolve over time

17. Planning & Preparedness
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Routine v. Novel
• Don’t get fancy at first
– How will the team “activate” and share that they are actively managing a
situation?
– How will they provide updates?
– What decisions will be escalated to executives?
• Then get fancy
– What could disrupt our business?
– Prioritize these risks with executives
– Plan for those key risks
• REMEMBER: You cannot plan for everything
• Having a decision making framework is more important than having a
plan for every single possibility

18. Private Sector Incident Management Framework
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Situational Awareness
Executive Incident Team
(Elected Leaders / Senior Leader)
Cross-Functional Incident Team
(Mission Essential Leaders)
Incident Management Team
Strategic Decision Making
Day to day operations
Recommendations to Executives
Horizontal Communication
Subject matter experts
Situational awareness upstream
Full-time / volunteer

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Case Study: Earthquake & Tsunami – Sendai, Japan (2011)

20. Incident Management Framework
Situational Awareness
Routine Incident
HOLY S$@!
What just happened?!
Protocols & Processes
Incident Specific Plans
Preparedness Steps
Situational Awareness
Collaborative cross-
functional discussion
Strategic view
Framework for
collaborative decision
making & communication
Acting in Time Against Disaster: A Comprehensive Risk Management Framework
Dr. Herman “Dutch” Leonard & Dr. Arnold Howitt, Harvard University

21. Crisis Leadership
Situational Awareness
• What’s happening?
• What do we know about it?
• What impact is it having on our organization?
• What don’t we know what we need to know?

22. How to overcome objections
The Challenge of the Business Case
• Tie your strategy to support of your organization’s strategic
objectives
• Work to develop metrics that show that worth
• Take the time to develop a narrative and use it relentlessly
• Bring in an outside expert to help drive your story
• Expose your senior leaders to their peers at other
companies

23. Crisis Management as a Competitive Advantage
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Source: 2012 Hurricane Sandy RILA Survey
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10/29 10/30 10/31 11/1 11/2 11/3
Target (195) Sears/K-Mart (236) Macy's (200) Walmart (294) Best Buy (125)

24. Practical Advice
The Simple Things
• Work / Organization
– Clear roles & responsibilities
– Establish decision making rights
– How will you communicate?
– Situational Awareness
• Personal
– Be Informed
– Make a Plan
– Build a Kit
– Visit ready.gov for more practical advice

25. I-35W Bridge Collapse – Minneapolis, Minnesota

26. Pentagon Fire – September 11th, 2001

27. Deepwater Horizon, Joint Information Center

28. VADM Thad Allen, USCG, Hurricane Katrina

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Bryan Strawser
Bryghtpath LLC
Bryan.Strawser@bryghtpath.com
+1-612-235-6435
http://bryghtpath.com

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Issue: Feb 2013 MMCAFRICA- EMS Auditor / Lead Auditor Training Course
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+1-612-235-6435
bryan.strawser@bryghtpath.com
www.bryghtpath.com
linkedin.com/in/bryanstrawser
twitter.com/bryanstrawser