This post is the seventh ‘Lessons Learned’ from my experiences in several Worst Case Drills (WCDs) held in 2024. Each ‘Lessons Learned’ focuses on one specific issue revealed in the WCDs that affects communicators’ ability to communicate in a crisis. Feel free to use this information to improve your own planning or response actions. I hope it helps!
WCD Lessons Learned posted to date:
#1: The approval dragon lives!
#2: Don’t do your old job in your new job
#3: Effective initial actions ensure effective initial messaging
#4: Build cooperation in the JIC
#5: Can you send content to stakeholders?
#6: Adapt, adapt, adapt – adopt, adopt, adopt
As usual, there’s a mini Improvement Plan for each Lesson Learned, to help you ensure your readiness in an actual incident. Each action should fit into a coffee break, unless it reveals the need for more work – no guarantees then! (But contact me if you need help!)
A quick reminder: Effective drill performance is NOT the end goal of drills: Effective RESPONSE performance is. Don’t fixate on ‘winning’ a drill; focus on being ready for an actual event. If a review of your drill capabilities reveals shortcomings, don’t wait for the next WCD. Fix it now!
Templates Needed
You will never have enough people in the JIC: There will always be too much to do. How can you meet the need for rapid creation of content with limited staffing? By having templates for every applicable type of content.
Templates provide multiple benefits.
- Properly built templates provide guidance for including only the most critical content.
- An effective template will enforce message discipline, allowing rapid content generation of only the most crucial information.
- Hint: If you already have an Initial Statement Template available for use, count the blanks in it – the places you need to insert content.
- An ideal Initial Statement Template will have as few blanks as possible:
- Remember, you don’t have much time, and you don’t have many facts.
- Using templates helps minimize editing: The basic format is compliant and the information scope is controlled.
- Properly created templates may even be pre-approved, so review and approval of your final draft only requires verifying the key facts you’ve added to the document.
- Here’s a resource to help your thinking about your templates and how to use them: Just the Facts, Ma’am?
How do you maximize use of templates?
First, create a template for each critical type of content. Here’s a list of templates that will be helpful:
- Initial Statement – as short as possible: Key information only
- Update Statement – expandable version of the Initial Statement, with cues to which additional information should be included
- FAQs – Use a format that streamlines the approval process, and makes it easy for viewers to find the FAQ they need. (Contact me if you need help!)
- Social Media Use policy, Facility and Employee Media Management policy
- Initial Incident Communication Report – Shared with IC/UC at the start of each operational period.
- Response Communication Plan – Formatted for quick creation every operational period.
- Response Status Report – An overview of important response activities.
Where can you find a good list of templates?
The Washington State Department of Ecology’s Oil Spills 101 website includes a list of Information Officer and JIC Management Resources that includes a starting list of templates that can be used to speed up the content creation process.
Improvement Plan:
- Review your list of templates to ensure you have all you need, each updated and ready for use.
- Test the readiness of your Initial Statement template by:
- Finding an incident related to your line of business online
- OR – Pulling up a recent WCD or Exercise starting Initial Update
- Determine the initial facts of the incident.
- Use the initial facts you’ve gathered and see how long it takes you to fill out your Update Statement template.
- Too many blanks will cause delays in releasing critical initial information.
- See if you can shorten the template for maximum information created in minimum time.
- Show your work to another communicator you work with, or know.
- Ask them if they would approve it as written.
- Repeat: Test the use of other templates:
- Pick a scenario from a previous drill or exercise.
- Test each template for ease of use and comprehensiveness.
Remember, an untested template isn’t a template: It is a draft.
You’ll know if you’re ready to use the tools already available to you well before your coffee is cold. If your coffee gets cold before you’re done, you’re not ready!
Interested? Want more information? Contact me!