Creating a crisis negotiation team: position recruitment and selection

Negotiating Team

Job Overview Flyer

In the normal course of events in business and society, most management groups are not adequately prepare to effectively deal with crisis situations: fires, natural disasters, bomb threats, or any type of willful acts of destruction. Two recent examples that showed just how underprepared most organizations are were the 9/11 Trade Center attack and Hurricane Katrina; both failures in their own right of the ability to quickly and effectively manage crises situations. This historical event changed the lives of many Americans forever and proved that business communities as well as communities at large and in general are all susceptible to disasters or crisis at any time. These disruptions can also be very costly the economy in general, and have wide ranging consequences for individuals and culture alike. Since 9/11, there have been a preponderance of reports, books, academic tomes, and conferences on the subject of crisis management -- all with the idea of helping managers prepare for a well-thought out, considered plan with which to put into place during a crisis (Mitroff, 2005).

Negotiating Team Positions, Duties and Qualifications There are numerous aspects to crisis management in the contemporary world: natural disasters, technological crises, confrontation crises, crises of malevolence, crisis of misdeeds, and workplace violence. Along with these numerous types of crises there are, of course, numerous paradigms and theories on the best way to handle each type of crisis most effective. These include, but are not limited to: the Standard Crisis Management Model, Management Planning, Contingency Planning, Business Continuity Planning, Structural-Functional Systems Theory, Diffusion of Innovation Theory, and the Role of Apologies and Public Relations in Crisis Management (Augustine, 2000).

In general, crisis management focuses on three major activities: 1) What are the most appropriate methods of response to both real and perceived crises?, 2) What models and scenarios need to be defined that constitute a crisis and should engage a necessary and appropriate response?, and 3) What is the communication plan and chain that is necessary to ensure that the emergency phase of crisis management is handled appropriately? (Fink, 2000).

One of the major axioms to crisis management is that managers do not negotiate and negotiators do not manage. The reason for this is simple -- perspective. One needs two different psychological approaches when dealing with a crisis involving negotiation -- macro and micro. The purpose of a team, then, is to provide support for divergent aspects of a crisis; if that crisis is media related, the team supports information and public policy; if hostage negotiation, the negotiator and intelligence and law enforcement; if technical then engineers and solution oriented management. For our team we have devised a critical base and the a few positions warranted because we are a multinational (in blue). Together, these form a completely robust and professional Crisis/Negotiation Team Approach.

Position

Minimum Qualifications

Demographic / Psychographic Portrayal

Reasons for Qualifications

Team Leader Director Level Position

8+ years managerial experience, law enforcement background, BA or equivalent hours in psychology and/or communication / negotiation techniques; strong interpersonal skills

Type A, strong personality with win-win attitude, leader of consensus management and ability to form a team and coach to find the best out of everyone.

Must be able to manage up and down without getting in the way of the team; Must be a strong coach, but not a controlling manager; must be able to let go in certain situations and trust the team.

Intelligence Manager, Manager Level Position

5+ years managerial experience; preference given to those with intelligence experience, broad range of education and background; key ability to synthesize divergent information, good multitasking skills

High cognitive and multi-dimensional role; knows a bit about a lot; can research and find information from disparate sources.

Must be able to assimilate large amounts of information quickly, synthesize and analyze; knows when to ask, when to tell, and above all, when not to get in the way. Long-term and background planning are essential here.

Communications Manager, Manager Level Position

5+ years' experience in communications field, preference given to those who have worked in a high pressure or global environment.

Strong media and communication skills; ability to work within high pressure situations and maintain composure; trust factor.