Filed under: Intranets
In early 2011, the sky opened in Queensland with heavy rainfall in Brisbane and across South East Queensland.
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.)