There are many aspect of crisis communication that are
imperative when preparing for and dealing with a crisis situation. Through a
crisis workshop that we did in class, I learned not only how important it is to
plan as much as possible in advance, but I also discovered that open
communication and having a “game plan” is crucial in dealing with a crisis that
can hit almost immediately. In our scenario, we worked together in teams to
deal with a meningitis outbreak at a university; my group was Student Life
involving the Dean, RAs, Student Life staff, and Health and Wellness Center. We
had to come up with plans once the crisis began and communicate with the other
aspects of the university, including the President’s Office, Academic Affairs,
and PR/Marketing. It was a great workshop and really taught us a lot about
crises and how best to handle them with preplanning and open communication. A
crisis is an unforeseen situation that has the potential to hurt or destroy the
organization’s reputation; it can occur unexpectedly and very quickly. Dealing
with a true crisis in a reputable way requires intense organization and
communication amongst its members, because one incident has the potential to
completely derail a project or organization.
Adequate planning for a crisis before it even happens can be
difficult, especially if you’re not entirely sure what could happen. The best
thing to do is go over the possibilities for problems and plan what to do when
they occur or something occurs beyond what was originally imagined. Make sure
that the leaders of the organization or corporation are honest during the
crisis and foster an environment of open communication amongst themselves and
their employees. Establish a team that will serve as a “home base” during the crisis,
who can meet to decide what is released to the public/media and what needs to
happen to solve the problem. Plan, plan, plan! Not all crises can be prepared
for, but having a pretty good idea of things that could possibly go wrong is
the best method when planning to solve an issue. Also, recognize who the
stakeholders are and focus messages on them when dealing with the problem.
Ensure your stakeholders and employees that everything is being done to the
best of your ability, and make sure to use the proper mediums when messaging
them. Choose effective ways of communication, and make sure that messages are
sequenced in a timely manner that allow you to analyze the situation while also
giving regular updates to the public. Identify who the spokesperson for your
group or corporation is; having one regular person who can provide messages and
updates will help keep trust in your company and put a face to the name. Write
down your plans, and make sure that everyone knows who or where to go to when a
problem arises. The best method of planning is to simulate a crisis and figure
out how to handle it through coaching and communication. Make sure that all
crisis plans are regularly updated and will provide the best ways to deal with
a situation as soon as it arises.
The most difficult aspect about planning for a crisis is
following the plan when the situation hits. During an emergency or huge
problem, the plan can easily be forgotten over the hectic and stressful
situation, which can lead to more problems down the road. As a leader, it’s
crucial that you keep everyone calm, lead by example, and analyze the situation
for a moment before immediately responding. Our simulation showed us that going
crazy with a plan as soon as a problem arises is not a good tactic; some groups
wanted to alert parents, send out emails and press comments, and cancel classes
as soon as one student got sick before truly knowing what was going on. While
the meningitis outbreak did get worse, it’s very important to take a minute to
breathe and think before following the plan. Keep communication open so that if
improvising needs to be done, it can be done in the most effective way possible
with a team.
One aspect of dealing with a crisis that my team
specitically learned about is dealing with other groups and social media during
a situation. We had to communicate with other teams who wanted to take
different routes and even tried to take over some of our responsibilities, so
we can to stay calm and think about a game plan before overreacting. Also,
since we were in the department of Student Life, it was our responsibility to
alert and communicate with the RAs, Health and Wellness, and the students
themselves. What created even more of an issue were students who used social
media to tweet and post about the crisis from their own opinions, creating
rumors that swirled out of control based on information that wasn’t 100% true.
With the connectedness of today’s society, everyone has camera phones that can
capture evidence and have apps that allow them to text, tweet, post, and
message about anything and everything. That was a huge part of dealing with our
crisis, since it wasn’t nearly as contained as we would have liked it to be.
One person who has learned about the impact of social media
during a crisis is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. He tried to be honest about his
history of smoking crack cocaine, thinking that his admission would win him
bonus points and voters’ appreciation for the next election. However, that
tactic completely backfired on him, and his absolute refusal to step down as
Mayor, saying that he intended to do his job despite his past, only made things
worse. The City Council voted to take some of his mayoral privileges away, and
it looks unlikely that he will win reelection. It’s obvious that he will have
to do a lot of image restoration if he wants to gain voter approval yet again
by building up his reputation. Despite apologizing for his actions and
insisting that he wouldn’t let the past interfere with his position, it’s
crucial that he works on gaining back the trust that he lost and shifting
attention away from his mistakes to how to improve Toronto for reelection.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, involved in a scandal regarding crack cocaine
Crises can’t always be predicted, and they often come very
quickly and can devastate an organization. However, with proper planning and
open communication, navigating a problem can be done effectively in a way that
keeps stakeholder trust while also positively building up the company’s image. Having
a strong executive team who is constantly communicating with each other and
continuously updating the public is very important in dealing with a crisis. I
really enjoyed the simulation workshop in class and think that it taught me and
my group a lot about what it feels like to deal with a crisis from the inside.
