2. Introduction
The inaugural 2013 Crisis Management Conference held in London last
week, promoted extensive discourse between an outstanding group of
speakers and the delegates who filled the venue to capacity.
I have taken time to ponder all that we heard and, in an impartial way,
endeavoured to capture in this report what I think were the key themes
to emerge.
The aim of the report is to ensure that the great value we all gained is
not lost; indeed learning and not just identifying lessons was one of
those themes.
I hope you enjoyed the conference, or just reading this report, and will
attend the next Crisis Management Conference in Spring 2014.
Regards
Dominic Cockram
Conference Chair and MD, Steelhenge Consulting
23 May 2013
For more information on CMC 2013, please visit:
www.steelhenge.co.uk/knowledge-zone/2013-crisis-management-
conference
Contact: enquiries@steelhenge.co.uk

3. The Key Themes
q Capability Building
Crisis management isn’t just about the response. It is a
capability that has to be built and encompasses
prevention (horizon scanning), preparation (planning,
training and, above all, rehearsal), response (adaptability
and flexibility) and review.
q People
People with the right knowledge, skills and experience
are central to an effective crisis management capability.
q Prosperity
There is a positive correlation between the crisis
management, resilience and prosperity of an
organisation.
q Learning
Identifying lessons is only beneficial if they are put into
practise so lessons identified become lessons learned.
q Values
An organisation's values should guide its response to a
crisis as much as they guide day-to-day business.
q Reputation
Building your reputational capital before a crisis is as
important as communicating well during a crisis.

4. Lessons
§ Link between resilience and prosperity
– There is a definite link perceived between the crisis
management capability, resilience and prosperity of an
organisation.
§ The value of horizon scanning
– Much was spoken of the undoubted value of
maintaining a horizon scanning capability. This linked
both with issues management from a communications
perspective and risk management at the enterprise
level.
§ The importance of training and exercising
– It is not a new thing, but once again the conversation
ratified that a good response is only delivered by well
trained and exercised staff, even at the senior executive
level. How else can their crisis decision-making
capability be honed and refined?

5. Lessons
§ Adaptability is critical to success
– A key principle of resilience but as applicable to
crisis management, adaptability was seen as a vital
factor in modern day crisis response. It is no
longer just about following procedures but being
able to flex and move to meet shifting sands and
changing dynamics during a crisis.
§ Leadership matters at every level
– Leadership matters at every level; from the
operational front line response, through tactical to
the senior executive level, good crisis leadership is
a must…and it is not the same as in day to day
management.
§ The values of your organisation matter in
a crisis
– Values must remain upfront and central in guiding
an appropriate crisis response, even under intense
pressure.

6. Lessons
§ Identifying then actually learning lessons is
vital
– It is all too easy to identify what went wrong in an
exercise or after a real crisis but far harder to ensure
that the lessons so welcomed are actually turned into
change and implemented. Audit can be very useful
here.
§ Audit is very powerful in supporting delivery
of good crisis management
– Delivering dispersed crisis procedures and practices is a
challenge which can be strongly supported by close
relationships with well trained and prepared auditors,
who can help you and should not be seen as the
enemy.
§ Staff must be comfortable and confident in
their capability
– Staff expected to be part of a response team must be
comfortable in what is expected of them and confident
in their capabilities and those of the team around them.
Back to preparatory training and exercising then!

7. Lessons
§ Simple plans are best
– All agreed that when a crisis hits, no weighty plan is
ever picked up and used. Responders should already
be familiar with roles and responsibilities as a team.
The simpler the plan, the better it works. Just
enough to guide but not enough to restrict!
§ Proactive issues management is a key
Comms function in crisis prevention
– Seeing issues coming and proactively managing them
via the right conversations with the right publics to
maintain your reputation capital is invaluable
§ Building trusted relationships supports you
in a crisis and protects your reputation
– Building trusted relationships with your ‘publics’ is a
well trodden path in the world of communications but
the capital it builds for your organisation can help to
keep you in credit during a crisis.
§ Prepare your senior management but use
them only when really needed
– Senior management is vital but their involvement has
a time and a place which should be carefully chosen.

8. Lessons
§ For crisis management to be successful it
must demonstrate its value to the executive
– In tough economic times, it is important to identify
measures that illustrate to senior management the ROI
of a well honed crisis management capability.
§ Crises are also times of great opportunity for
an organisation if it can be flexible enough
to take advantage
– Every crisis brings with it – somewhere – an
opportunity. If this can be identified and taken
advantage of, you can emerge in a better position after
the crisis than you were in before.
§ Crisis leaders must be prepared to break the
rules
– Analysis has shown that in many crises, those successful
achieved their results by breaking the rules when
required. Linked to adaptability, leadership and seizing
opportunity. Fortune favours the brave, but they need
to be experienced!

9. The view from the audience
§ “a truly inspirational conference, with too many
highlights to list”
§ “… the best conference I have ever been to; the
speakers were top drawer and consistently excellent”
§ “a cut above any I have been to in the last five
years….the speakers were a well chosen mix of style
and expertise and this made for a very varied
programme”
§ “You managed to combine some extremely engaging
and insightful speakers, a smart venue and excellent
catering, together with a really varied audience”
§ "A very insightful day which covered a broad range of
ideas, practices and processes. Very useful for those
new and already practiced in Crisis Management and
wider Resilience disciplines."

10. Thanks must go to…
Thanks
must
go
to
our
speakers:
Dr
Robert
MacFarlane
-­‐
Assistant
Director,
The
Cabinet
Office
Jon
Arthur
-­‐
Director
of
Resilience,
Unilever
Mark
Moran
-­‐
Head
of
Business
ConFnuity,
The
BBC
Susan
Wolstenholme
-­‐
President,
CIPR
Don
Randall
-­‐
Director
of
Security,
The
Bank
of
England
Ben
Dyer
-­‐
Managing
Director,
Global
Security
EMEA,
Goldman
Sachs
Prof
Edward
Borodzicz
-­‐
University
of
Portsmouth
Kevin
Brear
-­‐
JP
Morgan
…
and
also
the
Steelhenge
staff
for
all
their
hard
work
in
creaFng
and
running
a
very
successful
event.

11. Conclusion
This report has endeavoured to catch some, and only
some, of the themes discussed. Our thanks must go to
the speakers, without whose time so generously given,
there would have been no conference. They must also be
commended for leading the open discussion and sharing
of experiences that the delegates so valued.
It certainly proved that there is a wide and genuine
interest in crisis management and we can only apologise
to those who were not able to obtain tickets.
We will endeavour to offer more space next year – and
there most certainly will be a next year. We will take
forward the suggestions from this year's feedback to build
upon what has been a great start in offering a real forum
for debate on all aspects of crisis management.
I hope everyone learned something new and that we can
create an even more effective and influential event to raise
the bar further in 2014.
For more information on CMC 2013, please visit:
www.steelhenge.co.uk/knowledge-zone/2013-crisis-management-
conference
Contact: enquiries@steelhenge.co.uk