Build your team and organization's critical situation handling capability
In our age of the digital enterprise, where ‘the business is IT, and IT is the business,’ the distinction between IT major incidents like cyberattacks and business-side PR nightmares like an employee leaking sensitive information is blurred. In the situation we find ourselves in, it makes no sense to handle such crises from isolated business and IT silos following different playbooks. Every day it seems we see news reports of critical situations being mishandled by IT teams who lack business comms savvy, and business teams who lack IT savvy, and due to the discoordination among such siloed teams.
We need something different. We need every business and IT professional working from the same frame of reference, with one shared objective, one set of shared information and visualization into the situation, one shared toolchain, one shared set of processes. And we need agile continual improvement and practice and drills to build real capability into ‘muscle memory’ to ensure we can handle the moments of truth that will surely come as we prepare for, respond to, and following up in the aftermath of critical situations.
Frustratingly, there was no unified body of knowledge around this. What was out there was fragmented and siloed by business and IT audience. I say ‘was’ because now there is something: The Critical Communication Capability? framework.
As you may know, I am known for my IT major incident handling expertise. My colleague Jim Desler is known for his expertise in handling business PR nightmares. Together, we have spent nearly two years compiling a body of knowledge around what works in critical situation handling, the types of issues organizations face, best practice approaches, and how to avoid common mistakes.
The result is the Critical Communication Capability? framework, an extensive body of knowledge designed to provide individuals, teams, and organizations with a shared frame of reference and a basis for assessing and establishing true readiness and capability for critical situation handling. There is no other framework like it!
The Critical Communication Capability? framework curriculum consists of five courses and corresponding certification examinations: The foundation module, and four practitioner modules: People Focus, Process Focus, Information Focus, and Technology Focus.
We are excited to announce that the self-study video-based Foundation course that covers the framework is now available on LinkedIn learning (or, if you are not a LinkedIn Learning subscriber, you can purchase the training directly through acceleres.com). What makes this course unique is that the content is aimed at professionals across your organization working together as one, not just on the PR and Comms side, or on the IT side. This unified thinking, decision, action, and communication are crucial to your success in preparing for, responding to, and following up on critical situations.
All levels of CCC? Certification examinations are available now on Gauge by Test.com. Vouchers for these online examinations with remote proctoring are available for all exams, including the CCC? Foundation certification exam, and can be purchased with the course or separately if, for example, you take the training on LinkedIn Learning. Certification, while optional, demonstrates that the certificate holder has a firm grasp of the concepts covered, a grasp they will need as a basis for coordinated action within a shared frame of reference when critical situations strike.
You owe it to yourself, your team, and your organization to get everyone on the same page. Critical situations are not going away, and the consequences of handling them poorly are increasing every day. Get started today. We'd be glad to help.