With Wivenhoe dam at capacity, flash flooding in Toowoomba and kind tides looming, Brisbane was preparing for flooding not seen since 1974.

As a precautionary measure the power was shut down to over 100,000 homes and businesses in the CBS, because power providers feared flooding of underground substations.

The river rose and, before we knew it, broke its banks, pushing a vast amount of water into the Brisbane suburbs and CBD.

Brisbane was knocked out and organisations were faced with real issues that most were not fully prepared for.

Crises have struck across the globe in recent years, with floods in Brazil, fires and floods in Victoria and earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand and Japan.

In all these cases, organisations have been challenged to figure out how to communicate with staff and customers and what role electronic communications, including intranets, can play in this vital task.

This article focuses on what organisations can do to inform staff and improve their crisis management, before the crisis takes hold.

Insights and learnings from recent events in Australia come from a number of organisations as well as from a workshop with the Brisbane chapter of the Intranet Leadership Forum (www.steptwo.com.au/ilf).

(June article by Rebecca Rodgers, read the full article.)

Of course, the crisis does not have to be on a national or global level – individual organisations can suddenly be faced with all kinds of operational hurdles. A falling share price, cash flow problems or a change in top management may lead to a u-turn in organisational direction.

The strategies organisations employ in managing change at such times maybe innovative but too often they are reactive and unimaginative. It is common for organisations to revert to the usual approaches of cost and staff number reductions and organisational restructuring.

And what are the implications for intranets when this occurs?

Inevitably, there are impacts on the corporate intranet. These impacts may be direct reductions in intranet resources or funding, or more indirect effects, such as increased workloads caused by fewer content authors, or cancellation of new projects.

Look for opportunities

The impact that a crisis has on an intranet is likely to reflect the value the intranet has within the organisation. Does senior management consider the intranet a core business tool or is it still considered a ‘nice to have’?

[November KM Column by Amanda Broomhall, read the full article]