This post is the eighth ‘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
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!
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!)
JIC/Liaison Cooperation is Key
I walked into one Worst Case Drill anticipating another opportunity to work with the State-On-Scene Coordinator’s communication staff in the JIC. I was ready to represent the RP to support response communication with this team of trained professionals. I settled down at the table dedicated to JIC and Liaison and waited for the rest of the team to arrive. And waited… and waited. Crickets. Due to cancellations and conflicting schedules, I was the default PIO… and the default JIC. The WCD requirements for the JIC remained, now the responsibility of a JIC of one person: Me.
Fortunately, I’d spent the early hours of the response scenario creating an RP-specific initial communication assessment, initial statement and key FAQs, so we already had some response information in front of stakeholders. But the drill-specific content needs were daunting.
What do you do when it’s only you? How does one person gather response information for incident updates, answer telephone calls, create key messaging and prepare for a press briefing? You don’t. You can’t.
Fortunately, I had a superpower with me. No capes, tights or face masks: My superpower was the two SOSC staff serving as Liaison Officer. The NWACP JIC Manual includes the following key guidance for the JIC:
“Coordination with the Liaison Officer: Coordination with the Liaison Officer is an important responsibility of JIC personnel. A Liaison Officer is appointed by and reports to the Unified Command. The Liaison Officer is the point of contact for federal, state, tribal, and local agency representatives and elected officials with a vested interest in the response. Calls received by the hotline may be directed to the Liaison Officer. The Liaison Officer coordinates all calls from public and private entities helping or requesting information. The PIO is responsible for ensuring that the Liaison Officer’s messages are consistent with those from the JIC.” (page 9202-19)
This guidance wasn’t theory that day, it was reality! We split up responsibilities, supported one another and met WCD expectations. A single strand of communication became a three-fold cord, capable of providing response information to concerned stakeholders and providing key communication context to Unified Command. Cooperation between JIC and Liaison was a critical help in short staffing. Shared preparation for both Elected Officials Briefing and Press Briefing minimized time requirements and maximized Unified Command preparedness.
Our work together that day proved the value of maintaining the highest possible level of coordination. In an actual event this would have had even greater impact. In that WCD we participants got to see the value of our coordination. In an actual event, this three-fold cord would have maintained the JIC mission of effectively informing and assuring a concerned public about their own safety and enhancing public understanding and acceptance of response actions.
Improvement Plan: As in ‘Making the Best out of the Worst #4‘, reach out to ‘your’ PIOs at the Federal, State, Tribal and Local organizations who will serve in a Unified Command in ‘your’ incident. Ask the PIOs you meet with to introduce you to their lead LNO. Same routine: Contact that person and get their email address and cell phone number. Schedule a meeting with them to walk through the initial information flow in a response. Know how you’ll work together before you have to!
Interested? Want more information? Contact me!
On a related note: Does your Crisis Communication Plan provide guidance and tools like this that are needed for effective stakeholder communication in a crisis? Do you worry or wonder about its capability and currency? Here’s how you can be sure:
- Ensure coordination between plans. Review both Crisis Communication Plan and Emergency Response Plan to be sure they play well together.
- Assess your Crisis Communication Plan’s capability. I use 30 specific measurements.
- Recommend Plan edits. Draft the edits needed in Plan or policy language.
- Implement Plan edits. Add or edit content needed to maximize Plan effectiveness.
- Enjoy a newfound peace of mind. Both you and your plans are ready for the worst!
I’m happy to work with you to ensure your success! Here are two steps you can take right now:
Contact me NOW! The first person to contact me to mention this post will receive a credit for 8 hours of my Plan review services.