Crisis Management and Communications
cri·sis (krī'sĭs) Greek
1. A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
2. An unstable condition, as in political, social, or economic affairs, involving an impending abrupt or decisive change.
For many years I missed some anniversaries and holidays because I was involved in assisting companies with crises. Eventually, I even got a license plate for my car with the word, CRISIS, spelled out. I was impressed with myself until a young lady at a parking lot in Chicago asked me if Crisis was my name.
The biggest change in recent years has been the incredibly small window that exists from the beginning of a crisis, the cell phone photograph or video and the posting of events on Facebook, Twitter or another social networking site. The recent events in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Iran are a good example of how quickly events unfold and how little time anyone "managing" events has to act.
Today when we talk of a crisis or crisis management, it usually means all of the following components:
Development of a plan to manage a wide assortment of events that may befall an organization. A key component of any plan is a list of all contacts on the Crisis Management Team (CMT) and how all of them can be reached at any time. With critical organizations like chemical and nuclear plants, airlines, railroads, and nowadays, the Homeland Security Administration, electronic connections of a wide variety are essential.
- Scenarios and mock events are critical to see how well the plan works.
- Despite plans and simulations, the best approach to crisis management and communications is an astute and flexible management that responds with finesse under pressure and ultimately makes the right decisions with the right communications at the right time.
Starfish or Spider?
Be sure to read this informed discussion on organizations post 9/11 on Newswire http://ow.ly/MLBg .
