Crisis Management Planning
Business Crisis Management Consultants & Advisors
Our crisis management consultancy supports executive teams, boards, and leadership groups in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from high-impact incidents. As experienced crisis management consultants, we work alongside organisations to strengthen decision-making, protect reputation, and maintain operational stability during periods of extreme disruption. Our approach combines structured crisis planning with calm, practical advisory support when it matters most.
What is crisis management?
A crisis response is strategic, ensuring that high risk events with the potential to severely affect or destroy a business are systematically managed by executives. Crisis management is the application of strategies designed to help an organisation deal with sudden and significant negative events.
Crisis management follows a structured process aimed at lessening the effects and minimising the damage of a crisis on an organisation and its stakeholders. It consists of three key phases: pre-crisis, crisis response, and post-crisis.
The process involves preparing for, responding to, and recovering from foreseeable risks that a business may encounter, ensuring resilience and continuity in the face of disruption.
The Significance of Crisis Management in Business Resilience
In today’s unpredictable business environment, crisis management plays a crucial role in ensuring business resilience—the ability of an organisation to anticipate, respond to, and recover from unexpected disruptions. Whether it’s a cyberattack, operational failure, reputational threat, or natural disaster, businesses must have a structured approach to mitigate risks, minimise damage, and ensure continuity.
The importance of crisis management plans, exercises, frameworks and policies.
Risks are a natural consequence of doing business, and they can come in both natural and manmade forms of disasters. Storms, floods, fires, and cyclones have impacted humankind since the beginning of time, whereas criminal acts, safety incidents, acts of negligence, sexual harassment, cyber issues (including IT failures), negative media, physical security breaches, and IT security threats (such as hacks, malware, and ransomware) can all plunge a company or government into crisis. Additionally, breaches of regulations, financial losses, and the exposure of personal information can lead to severe legal, operational, and reputational consequences.
Managing these risks is crucial for good business. Ideally, steps can be taken to eliminate risks or mitigate potential consequences through well-structured crisis management plans. When managed correctly, risk mitigation provides a strategic competitive advantage, allowing your business to continue operations while competitors may struggle due to the impacts of an unexpected crisis event.
Our Crisis Management Consultants & Advisors
We are fast becoming known as an industry leader in Crisis Management
We understand the commercial and operational risks that your business faces and tailor carefully crafted solutions to treat those risks.
With this understanding, what we do offers tailored practical solutions that your organisation can apply to build its resilience.
Our Crisis Management Services:
At Resilient Services, we offer a wide range of crisis management services to suit your business’s specific needs. We recognise that every organisation is different and will require a unique set of management procedures. Depending on your circumstances, we can offer and are not limited to the following services:
- After action reviews (to capture learnings and provide continuous improvement opportunities)
- Business continuity plans and business impact assessments
- Crisis communications plans
- Crisis and emergency management plans, frameworks and documentation (corporate and operational)
- Crisis and emergency management exercises and simulations
- Disaster management plans
- Emergency preparedness consultant
- Detailed reports into cause and effect
- Pandemic planning
- Resilience policy and planning development
- Risk management and mitigation plans
- Safety reports
- Security risk assessments
Crisis management plans are written to meet government legislation and or ISO 22320:2018 – Security and resilience – Emergency Management – Guidelines for incident management.
The 3 Stages of Crisis Managment Planning
Pre-Crisis:
The pre-crisis phase is a preventative stage focused on evaluating strategic risks that may arise in the event of a crisis. Our crisis management consultants conduct risk assessments, develop response strategies, and establish clear communication protocols. By identifying vulnerabilities and implementing preventative measures, we can help businesses strengthen their resilience and ensure they are well-prepared for potential disruptions.
Crisis:
During the crisis phase, organisations implement the Crisis Management Plan to reduce potential damage and ensure a swift, effective response. This includes activating emergency protocols, coordinating response teams, and maintaining transparent communication with stakeholders. A well-executed crisis response helps contain the situation, minimise risks, and maintain business continuity.
Post-Crisis:
The post-crisis phase focuses on assessing the response and implementing strategies to improve crisis management for future occurrences. Our consultants conduct an After Action Review (AAR) to evaluate the effectiveness of their crisis response, identify lessons learned, and refine their crisis management plans. Continuous improvement ensures greater preparedness and resilience against future crises.
Benefits of Crisis Management
Reduces impact and operational downtime
A well-structured Crisis Management Plan helps contain disruptions early, protecting people, assets, and operations.
Maintains business continuity
Clear Crisis Response procedures ensure critical functions keep running even during major incidents.
Strengthens organisational resilience
A mature Crisis Management Framework builds confidence, clarity, and rapid recovery across the organisation.
Protects reputation and stakeholder trust
Effective Crisis Communication keeps staff, customers, and partners informed, reducing reputational damage.
Improves decision-making under pressure
Defined roles, responsibilities, and escalation pathways allow leaders to act decisively in high-stress situations.vv
Supports legal, governance, and compliance requirements
A proactive Crisis Management approach helps organisations meet regulatory obligations and duty-of-care standards.
Enhances leadership capability
Ongoing Crisis Management training prepares leaders to respond with clarity, confidence, and stability.
Builds a culture of preparedness
Regular exercises, simulations, and crisis readiness planning embed awareness and teamwork across the organisation.
Drives continuous improvement
Structured After Action Reviews (AARs) turn lessons learned into stronger future crisis plans and response strategies.
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Industries that are offered Crisis Management Systems
Resilient Services provides crisis management consulting to clients across New Zealand and Australia in metropolitan cities such as Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane. Our crisis management services are available for use by a wide array of industries including:
Be Prepared for the Unexpected
– Get Your Crisis Management Plan Today
A crisis will place you, your staff and business into an unusual situation, where panic and poor decisions can be made. At Resilient Services, we develop easy-to-follow instructions to protect you, your staff, and your customers by managing crisis and returning your services to normal in the shortest possible timeframe through step-by-step instructions. By having a crisis management framework in place, you will be providing your stakeholders with the confidence that you know and understand the risks that your business could potentially face, and that in the event of any crisis emergency, your response will be effective at ensuring that normal operations are returned as quickly and safely as possible.
If you’re seeking expert crisis management consultants consultants in Australia, Resilient Services is here to support your organisation through comprehensive planning, preparation, and response strategies.
Strengthen Your Crisis Management Capability
Use the form below or speak with our team on 0493 700 661 to discover how our crisis management planning, training, and support can enhance your organisation’s readiness and resilience.
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What our clients are saying
“It was thoroughly enjoyable to work with the team at Resilient Services. Clearly, this team is enthusiastic, enjoys what they do, and is proud of what they produce.”
Head of Corporate Risk.
Oil and Gas Producer
“Business continuity plan is comprehensive and flawless.”
Top 4 Australian
Accounting Firm 2021
Your Crisis Management questions answered
Common questions
What industries does Resilient Services specialise in serving?
Resilient Services specialises in serving a variety of industries, including:
- Critical Infrastructure
- Energy and Power
- Government and Regulators
- Industrial and
- Manufacturing
- Maritime
- Mining
- Office/Corporate
- Oil, Gas and Petroleum
- Water
What is a crisis management plan?
A crisis management plan is a formal document that defines how an organisation prepares for, responds to, and recovers from sudden, disruptive events that threaten its operations, reputation, people, or assets. It outlines roles, responsibilities, escalation processes, and communication protocols to ensure response actions are structured, timely, and effective.
How does crisis management fit into organisational resilience?
Crisis management is a core component of organisational resilience. Resilience is the broader capability of an organisation to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to change or disruption, while crisis management focuses on structured responses during a high-impact, time-critical event. Effective crisis management planning strengthens resilience by preparing leadership and teams to respond confidently and recover more quickly from disruptions.
What kinds of crises should an organisation plan for?
Crises can arise from many sources, including:
Natural events (e.g., storms, bushfires, floods)
Operational failures or supply chain breakdowns
Cybersecurity breaches or IT outages
Reputational or media crises
Regulatory or compliance shocks
Pandemics or health-related emergencies
The goal of planning is not to predict every scenario but to equip organisations with flexible, scalable strategies to manage diverse threats.
Do you provide crisis management software or tools?
Yes. We offer access to specialised tools that support incident logging, communication, task tracking, and real-time situational awareness, helping streamline your response – that’s why we have created BRUCE.
How does Resilient Services support organisations during an actual crisis?
Resilient Services provides expert guidance and operational support throughout a crisis. This includes supporting strategic decision-making, coordinating response activities, communicating with stakeholders, and ensuring continuity of essential operations—ensuring leaders can act with clarity and confidence throughout the event.
How do crisis management and business continuity planning interact?
Crisis management and business continuity complement each other. Crisis management involves an immediate, strategic response to a disruptive event. Business continuity planning ensures that critical operations can continue throughout and beyond that event—even under stress. Together, they protect the organisation’s performance, reputation and long-term viability.
Why is proactive crisis planning valuable for an organisation?
Proactive crisis planning:
Minimises disruption and operational downtime
Protects stakeholder confidence and organisational reputation
Enhances decision-making under pressure
Supports legal, governance and compliance needs
Turns lessons into continuous improvement across teams and frameworks
A strong crisis plan reduces reactive decision-making and builds organisational trust and credibility.