CRISIS MANAGEMENT
LESSONS LEARNED
A variety of practices have been employed in successful crisis management. These practices
have been tested in crises by many organizations and have proven to work.
Crisis can be managed. In fact, many organizations have not only survived crises but have
enhanced their public and professional images in the process. As for any major management
challenge, there must be a plan and there must be a working team operating within clearly
understood guidelines prescribed in the plan. In short, a crisis is a time for exceptional
management, not panic or a suspension of good management practices. Managers must be prepared
to participate, to focus on the problem at hand, and to know what is expected of them.
As a prerequisite to managing successfully during a crisis, an organization or a
government must accept that crises are inevitable and must be prepared for the worst. This
does not mean being paranoid. What it means is that we should be tracking potential crisis
issues even though there may be no indication whatsoever of a possible crisis.
Crisis management should be viewed as one element in a broader management continuum that
comprises pre-crisis management (normal issue management, in other words), crisis management,
and post-crisis management (return-to-normal management).
- Have a clear set of crisis management procedures
- A generic contingency plan that sets out:
- How decisions are made and by whom, including procedures for the organization’s crisis
management team;
- A triggering procedure;
- A fan-out and callback system for rapid first-step communications; and
- A public information plan that includes basic messages, such as the organization’s primary
concern for health and safety.
- A capacity for ongoing monitoring of emerging issues and public environment analysis. An
extension of this is to plan in advance for certain kinds of predictable crises by building into
the program or policy development a response to potential tough questions, leaks, etc. Monitoring
can also assist in the development of responses to incorrect information put forth by the media and
special interest groups.
- A procedure for testing the plan as frequently as possible. It is particularly important to
practise multi-department strategies to be sure that people and equipment will work
together.
- Provision for training major players / spokespersons.
- Be prepared for the worst
Be prepared to participate in your organization’s crisis management team. The establishment
of a crisis management team. The establishment of a crisis management team does not supplant
the need for pre-crisis and post-crisis management activity. On the contrary, such activities
should be further developed. Issue identification and tracking, with a functioning early-warning
system to pick up new and emerging issues at the departmental level, is essential if an
organization is to manage crises successfully.
During a crisis, a spokesperson needs to be chosen to speak for the organization.
While it is essential to have a single spokesperson throughout a crisis, there may also have
to be a number of subordinate spokespersons who can provide information in the regions, on
information hotlines, etc; or who, because of technical expertise, can assist the lead
spokesperson in dealing with the media. No matter how many subordinate spokespersons, the
information they give out must be consistent with that of the lead spokesperson. Part of the
crisis management team’s responsibility would be to develop messages; proposed Question and
Answer packages; and media lines for distribution to, and use by, sub-spokespersons. All
spokespersons must sing from the same hymn book.
The level or rank of the spokesperson is important, as it signals the degree of the crisis.
If you go too high, you run the risk of unduly alarming the public and you lose an opportunity
for a fall-back position. Above all, the spokesperson must be credible and, preferably,
fluently bilingual.
- Take the initiative, make news
Do not be afraid to be forthright with good news or bad. Do not hesitate to admit that you
do not have all the answers or that you do not have the instant “solution” the media customarily
demand. This is the key to establishing your integrity and the fact that you are in control.
Designate a spokesperson (and alternates) and stick with the spokesperson throughout the
crisis. In the early hours of a crisis, the spokesperson’s message is generally the same — an
expression of genuine concern, not explanation, not blame and never specifics such as
compensation — just concern.
Tell the truth. Emphasize that you are monitoring the situation and are actively seeking a
solution.
Inform the media that you will talk to them regularly and do so, but at your time and place.
To whatever extent possible, control television visuals by offering your own (interview clips,
etc.).
Do not on any account delay action, in the hope that the crisis will blow over.
- Establish a checklist of contacts
When a crisis hits it is essential that key personnel be notified as quickly as possible.
Many organizations report that they have benefited by designating a crisis management team of
key officials. Their names, telephone numbers, and where they could be reached 24 hours a day
were circulated throughout the organization. All personnel, particularly regional personnel,
knew whom to call the instant a crisis was identified.
- Do not panic
Evaluate the nature of the crisis. Why is it a crisis? Who says it is a crisis (the media,
special interest groups)? When was it first identified as a crisis?
Examine the information you are receiving. If it is coming primarily from the media, serious
consideration should be given to obtaining information from other sources.
Ascertain key target audiences and focus communications primarily on these audiences.
Be comfortable with having no instant, ultimate solution to the crisis. Avoid knee-jerk
reactions to perceived threats.
- Take action to prevent escalation of the crisis
Never invent a scapegoat. If there is obvious blame to be attached to a person or
policy, take appropriate action without delay. Such action should be taken only if it is a
genuine solution; firing somebody or retreating on policy as a quick-and-dirty attempt to abort
the crisis will achieve nothing and may create more problems than it will solve.
- Assess the situation from more than one perspective
It is all too easy for senior officials to believe the situation is worse than it really is.
When a crisis manager sees only negative editorials or television reports, the dimension of the
problem tends to balloon. Research is the means whereby the manager’s mind is refocussed as to
the exact size and level of awareness of the problem. In other words, bad press does not
necessarily mean public attitudes have significantly altered.
Virtually every successful crisis management program has contained a research component.
Managers should not be speculating on what the public may be thinking — they should know.
- Identify and inform potential supporters
Enlist the support of those who share your viewpoint. Partisan supporters are affected less
by adverse media (generally speaking) than the uncommitted. Informed supporters can have
significant impact on the public.
Supporters can be a first line of subtle response by initiating alternating viewpoints
(through letters to the editor, for example), which they would be less likely to do if they
lacked information.
- Deal with only the crisis during the crisis
A crisis is not the time to defend policies on the basis of a superior record or outstanding
performance in the past. Such achievements should be communicated as a matter of course in
non-crisis periods; a good record should be there to fall back on at all times. Third-party
spokespersons talking about the good track record of an organization can however be helpful,
even during a crisis.
- Reintegrate the crisis into the normal flow of business
When a crisis begins to wane and the organization is once again seen to be in control, the
crisis issue should be visibly pulled back. For the air of crisis to be dispelled, the issue
must lose its special crisis status and be integrated into the organization’s day-to-day
operations.
- Conduct a post-mortem
Once the crisis is over and operations are returning to normal, it is important from a
communications and an operational point of view to have a post-mortem. This is where all
the participants sit down and examine how the contingency plan worked. Was there a plan?
If not, develop one. Review who did what; when things happened; why things happened. What
was learned?
Follow up right after; make modifications so you are better prepared for the next crisis
(there is always a next crisis).
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