The success of any business, utility or organization rests firmly on its reputation. That’s why businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments, universities and individuals hire public relations professionals to portray them as beneficial, trustworthy and concerned members of the community. But, all that careful image crafting can be destroyed by one poorly handled crisis. A “crisis,” in public relations terms, is any event that draws intense, negative media coverage and interferes with normal business activity. Crises can cost organizations millions of dollars to Samsung Repair near Bracken Ridge or can potentially put them out of business for good. In this article, we’re going to examine crisis communication. Crisis communication is part of an overall crisis management plan designed by upper-level management and public relations professionals to reduce the potential damage caused by a crisis. The work of crisis communication is two-fold — preparation and response. To prepare for a crisis, an organization must create a detailed crisis communication plan with a crisis communication team assigned to execute the plan.
With a plan in place, an organization is more likely to respond to a crisis quickly, take immediate steps to control the message and successfully regain the public’s trust. Like a disaster recovery plan, a crisis communication plan is a type of insurance policy for the long-term health of an organization. Failure to address and contain a crisis can have lasting consequences for an organization. In the corporate world, white-collar crime accounted for the largest percentage of business crises in 2006, closely followed by mismanagement. The top three most crisis-prone industries were airlines, software makers and pharmaceutical companies (see sidebar for rest of the top ten). In this article, we’ll explain how crisis communication works before, during and after a crisis, with an emphasis on how technology is making crisis communication more effective. With the exception of computer manufacturers, all these industries were also in the Top 10 the year before.
First, let’s list the chief components of a good crisis communication plan, and then we’ll go over each one in detail. Team members are assigned specific roles, such as gathering contact information from all employees or establishing relationships with members of the local media. The first job of the crisis communication team is to select an official spokesperson. The spokesperson will be the primary contact for all media inquiries. They will run all press conferences and give most interviews during a crisis. They should be very experienced in working with both print and broadcast media. The spokesperson must be extremely knowledgeable about the organization and be comfortable in front of a TV camera, with the ability to project calm and inspire confidence. They also should know how to condense complicated arguments into key talking points and how to stress those points in an interview without appearing to avoid tough questions. This person’s job is to look after the safety of all employees and constituents, which could include clients, vendors, neighbors and community leaders.
If a crisis — like a fire or a school shooting — occurs, the internal communications manager works with police and emergency officials to communicate essential information to all involved, such as employees, staff, teachers, students and parents. During the crisis communication planning stage, the internal communications manager collects contact information from all employees and constituents. This contact information must be exhaustive (home and cell-phone numbers, e-mail address, instant messaging (IM) and fax numbers) and updated frequently. Many subscription services allow an individual to send an emergency message to all communications platforms simultaneously (phone, e-mail, IM and fax). Through these services, a notification can be initiated over the Web, via e-mail or even over the phone. One major advantage of subscription emergency notification systems is that employees and constituents can update their own contact information directly into the system and set preferences for the best way to be reached in an emergency. A member of the crisis communications team needs to establish and maintain relationships with the local media before a crisis occurs.
Media relations are one of the chief responsibilities of public relations, so this job probably would go to the team member with the most public relations experience. What’s important is cultivating a relationship of openness and trust between the organization and the reporters who cover it. This is done by pitching stories, ideas and expert commentary to reporters in good times, not just times of crisis. The media relations specialist should keep an updated list of all local and national reporters who cover the industry, their contact information and their deadlines. In the general practice of crisis management, it’s recommended that a company or organization undergo an honest self-assessment to predict where potential crises may arise. Sometimes an outside public relations firm may need to be hired to examine fully the organization for lapses in ethical or legal judgment. The crisis communication team studies this list of potential crises and drafts talking points.
visit south shop
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cAKYMmsGriJV9ERt5
