Professional Crisis Management Training

Crisis management provides diverse applications.

Whether it's a personal emergency or a pandemic, a state of crisis is rarely, if ever, viewed in a favorable light. The book "Crisis Management," published by Harvard Business School, defines a crisis as a change--either sudden or evolving--that results in an urgent problem that must be resolved immediately. Since a crisis can arise in any professional or societal structure, crisis management training is needed wherever there could potentially be a problem fitting that definition.

History

Harvard Business School cites NASA's Columbia space shuttle disaster as one example of a crisis that had repercussions extending far beyond the initial damage. While a physical malfunction initiated the event forming the crux of the crisis, it was an overall absence of sound management practice that led up to the disaster and made it worse. If there had been professional crisis training prevalent within NASA's program, the book says, this disaster most likely would have been avoided, since a major part of crisis management is noticing a crisis before it is out of control.

Instruction

Recognition, containment and resolution are the major elements taught in crisis management training. Once recognizing the crisis, it's imperative that procedures exist for containing the crisis before it spirals into a deeper emergency. Once the crisis is contained, you can move on to the next step--resolution--which involves moving the situation forward and away from being a crisis situation. Such work requires good communication and leadership skills, which can be compared to those found in a captain of ship who not only stops a ship from sinking, but then also steers the ship in the right direction.

Application

Beyond applications in business and governmental organizations, further applications of crisis management training include school safety, mining operations, self-help and violence prevention. In the case of mining, where significant danger is always present, crisis management training provides a sense of confidence in managers and in employees. A survey of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration showed that 97 percent of managers who had crisis management training felt they had benefited from it.

Institutions

With various applications of crisis management training comes a variety of specialized and expansive training institutions. The U.S. government, for example, operates the Emergency Management Institute, which conducts classes dealing with crises commonly dealt with by governmental leaders in federal, state, tribal and local jurisdictions. These classes teach structured decision-making through book study and exercises simulating natural disasters, terrorist attacks and accidents involving hazardous material. In another context, the Crisis Management Institute addresses crisis response relative to the school setting through its training and consultation services.

Considerations

Whether taking crisis management training because it's your career choice or because you feel your organization, community or family could benefit from the training, there's plenty of opportunity for finding the training you desire. Harvard Business School mentions four types of companies that statistically have a need for professional crisis management training: major airlines, chemical and petroleum companies, food processors and packers and financial services companies.

References

• Crisis Management; Harvard Business School; 2004
• MSHA: Crisis
• EMI: On Campus Course List
• CMI: Crisis Management Training Services