Critical reviews require careful planning and drafting just like any other assignment. This guide suggests what to focus on at each stage of the process.
1. Plan your approach
Read your assignment instructions carefully in order to:
- determine your exact criteria.
- find out what proportion of your review you should dedicate to summary and evaluation; and
- know whether the summary and evaluation should be presented as separate sections or a combined section.
2. Make notes
Skim, read the Crisis Management Plan (CMP) and make notes about:
- the main question or questions.
- the methods used.
- the evidence provided.
- the key questions or answers; and
- the implications and significance of the findings.
3. Evaluate the plan
- Judge the quality or value of the CMP.
- Consider the merits of the plan in the short term as well as the long term.
- Consider the merits of the plan in comparison to other reviewed plans.
4.When evaluating the CMP, you could answer some of the following questions:
- Are the issues the CMP addresses relevant, new, or useful? To whom, and why?
- Does the plan give new answers or interpretations to an old question?
- Is the plan detailed, or brief? Simple or complex?
- Is the information presented to support the plan extensive? Strong? Weak? Relevant? Persuasive? Contradictory?
5. Write it up
When writing and proofreading your critical review:
- Read the plan you are reviewing again to check that you have covered everything.
- Stay focused on your evaluation criteria (below).
Assess the plan based on this checklist of questions:
- Does the plan reflect the organization’s mission and values?
- Does the plan have measures to identify crisis warning signs?
- Is there contact information for all members of the crisis management team, as well as those for key advisors, stakeholders, and support services?
- Do the crisis scenarios represent a range of the most probable emergencies for the organization?
- Has the plan identified core response action elements?
- Has the plan mapped the response actions to the crisis scenarios?
- Is there a plan for crisis communication?
- Is there a clear chain of command in the crisis team?
- Does the crisis plan include procedures for assessing the severity of an event and its impact?
- Does the plan contain the training and plans to update?
- Is there an identified and set up a command center?
- Is there identified and necessary back-up resources?