Identifying a Crisis
A crisis can be defined as the ultimate unplanned activity that acts as an Ultimate test for the managers. Crisis management is an important part of the business’s organisational strategy as during the time of crisis the conventional or traditional practices of Management are insufficient and inadequate to deal with the situation. The current report provides a detailed and well-managed crisis management strategy that is focused on renewing the confidence of the business as well as provide a favourable impression to the stakeholders. A crisis can have two elements which are mainly a threat to operations and reputational element.
The first primary task for any organisation facing a crisis situation is to identify the same. A business in crisis from the viewpoint of communication is exposed to the attention of public which is responsible for threatening the reputation of the company as well as its ability to sustain in the market. Crisis becomes a challenge when the company faces in intense scrutiny from media (Coombs, 2014). Even though risk such as natural disasters and accidents are beyond the control of the business organisation, there are some which can be foreseen and predicted. Hence it is necessary to identify the issues leading to a crisis in order to develop an action plan that can help in managing the crisis situation.
It is necessary to identify the issues leading to the crisis as it has been observed that an issue can have a prolonged impact for several months and years. According to White (2016), when these issues are complemented with events and circumstances that are responsible for propelling the mismanagement to the attention of a public forum, the issue turns into a crisis. In case the issues have not been properly handled or managed, there can be an escalation which can lead to a severe impact on the operations and functions of the organisation.
It is necessary to undertake a coordinated approach which will help the management of an organisation to effectively anticipate potential issues and identify the same which can be used for prevention of crisis development and minimising the influence of this crisis situation. The very first step for crisis identification is undertaking an audit which provides information pertaining to the company’s Inventory of vulnerability as well as the critical issues that are likely to surface (Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger, 2017). For this purpose, it is necessary to conduct the series ofinterviews within the company with the senior management which helps in analysing the business plan, relationships, processes as well as previous experiences.
Developing Communications Plan for a Crisis Situation
The audit also helps in identifying the key contacts, the oversight functions and the influence of the media which leads to the inspection of the existing plans of communication for the relevance to the circumstance. Crisis identification also involves legislative tracking, media analysis industry report, surveys as well as polls outside the company to identify all the potential threats that a company faces. As observed by Fearn-Banks (2016), once the issues have been identified the next step is prioritisation which means that the issues will be reported on the basis of the magnitude as well as the likelihood of the occurrence of the issue.
After the completion of the communication audit, it is necessary to develop an issues manual which lists out the critical issues in the context of the involvement of the company and its history. This manual also identifies the position of the company during the occurrence of the issues listed. Having an issues manual is very essential for a business organisation as it not only provides a framework for what to do in case of a specific threat that has been identified but it also provides a description of things to do if the identified issues have been leaked to the public media (Coombs 2015). This description involves the level of visibility of the issue among the community and provides a guideline for identification of allies and adversaries.
As already mentioned auditing is necessary for identifying the issues present in the communication plan of a company in crisis. In order to these issues, it is necessary for the company to enlist emergency procedures in a crisis plan that also contains a detailed communication response procedure for the event when a crisis situation is identified in the audit surfaces. According to Liu & Fraustino (2014), merely developing a crisis plan will not ensure the ability of the company to save its reputation. The crisis plan needs to be in context as well as specific as much as possible for appropriately adapting practices that will save the face of the company.
A good crisis communication plan should consist of the name as well as the contact information of the crisis team and spokesperson. Providing this information is important as it will suffice the people who want to know individuals responsible for leading an organisation through a crisis situation. The plan should also consist of a crisis triage which will help the organisation to understand the level of crisis that they are facing (Carrol, 2015). The real challenge is the establishment of criteria for deciding the escalation of a minor incident to a full-blownnational or international crisis.
Rules of Crisis Management
The crisis plan should also enlist the first response in case of a crisis situation. This will enable the organisation to prioritise the information that should be shared with the media. As pointed out by Heide & Simonsson (2014), the plan will also contain the notification or alert procedures in order to identify the people who get the information, the priority by which they get the information and the mode of Information sharing that is by using a phone, an email, a pager or a fax.
In the checklist of a good communication plan, it is necessary to identify a situation room. It is necessary to assess the physical space that will become the nerve Centre for crisis management. Identification of the situation room helps in assessing the staff, location, hardware and software requirements as well as layout. The next thing to keep in mind is stakeholder communication which provides a guideline for establishing communication with the customers, employees, shareholders, government as well as the media (Simonsson & Heide, 2018). The first thing necessary is to be in the support of the stakeholders and reassure them that the crisis is being managed appropriately.
The crisis communication plan should also consist of the media contact list which includes the inputs and outputs. The inputs are the media section and outlets as well as the online message boards which should be kept under surveillance and monitored by the opinion leaders. The output are the media sections and outlets that should be contacted first to provide them with the overview of the crisis situation that the company is facing. Finally, as observed by Boin, Stern & Sundelius (2016), the crisis plan should involve a template of responses which are in a standardized format and simplified language for enlightening the management of the protocols involved in all the types of Communications.
It should be kept in mind that the media is not the enemy of the company. On the contrary the media acts as a platform having Direct Access to the targeted audience. This means in a crisis situation instead of avoiding the media, it is recommended that media outlets be used as a conduit for communicating the key messages of the company (Kim, 2018). The messages should contain a statement of confirmed facts and background information along with the activities undertaken by the company to deal with the situation.
Crisis management is dependent on the effectiveness of communication. The early hours after the origin of the crisis are critical as they are responsible for dictating how the crisis will be handled. It is necessary to be as honest as possible. In words of Doorley & Garcia (2015), the communicated statement should identify the time frame in which an individual became aware of the situation, identifying the individuals who are involved in the situation as well as providing a brief summary of what is to be done for fixing the situation. It is also necessary to minimise the occurrence of any misinformation. It is necessary to undertake a balanced communication strategy that not only protects the corporate liability but also satisfies the demands of the information and media dynamic of the present day.
Perhaps the controversial element of crisis management is taking Responsibility in which an individual who is involved in a crisis situation is required to empathize or publicly apologize for the events that transpired. Taking responsibility is an act of communicating with the media and the targeted audience of what the organisation is prepared to do in order to rectify the situation (Coombs 2014).
A business organisation needs to be swiftto gain authority over the information circulated which will enable a peaceful crisis resolution. As noted by Jordan-Meier (2016), it is necessary to ensure that the appropriate management levels are updated by providing information from a variety of sources such as analyst comments, competitive intelligence, media coverage as well as the first and report prepared by the managers.
It is necessary for establishing a crisis management team before the crisis even happens. Along with the creation of the team, it is also necessary to properly train them so as to enable them to deal with the crisis situation effectively. As stated by Zaremba (2014), the crisis management Team should be providedwith a situation room that allows the team to have access to the highest management levels present in the organisation.
It is always better to assume the worst-case scenario as it enables the management and the crisis team to develop contingencies and response to pitfalls. The contingencies can be developed days, months or years ago based on the Crisis identification and evaluation (Bundy et al. 2017). Planning is also helpful in forecasting the possible consequences which in turn will determine the chain of actions to be undertaken by the management and the crisis team to deal with the crisis situation.
As observed by Holladay & Coombs (2015), employees are the front line of a business organisation and it is necessary for the management to understand the importance of making the employees aware of the crisis as well as the means and methods that are undertaken by the company to deal with the situation.
In case, a business organisation is not able to develop crisis management team, they can also use third parties that can speak on behalf of the management. The third parties’ function as a character witness and have more credibility than the organisation facing the crisis (Jin, Pang & Smith, 2018).
It is necessary to undertake research activities such as market research, Focus Group as well as pooling to gather the necessary and essential Insight into the magnitude of a situation as well as determining the public attitude towards the issue. As pointed out by Waters (2017), it is also advisable to monitor internet activities, blogs as well as chat rooms.
In case the circumstances are such that it is difficult for the business organisation to provide up to date information they can create a website that can provide quick and updated information to the media and targeted audience (De Waele, Claeys & Cauberghe, 2015).
When a crisis situation is successfully managed and controlled, the business organisation facing the crisis situation should take time to examine the impact of the incident on the brand as well as the reputation of the organisation. As observed by Roshan, Warren & Carr (2015), in case it has been identified that the company was involved in the escalation of the issue to a crisis situation, it may be necessary for the company to regain and rebuild the trust of the stakeholders such as the consumers, employees as well as shareholders to keep their business operations running. In order to recover from a crisis, it is necessary for the company involved to consider a wide range of communication initiatives that can be used for restoring consumer trust and loyalty.
In order to prepare for handling media during a crisis situation, it is necessary to prepare for interviews by developing key messages and Facts pertaining to the incident with an overview of the steps taken. It us also necessary to anticipate the questions in order to provide them with an answer which is short, accurate and brief. It is important to act in accordance with the deadlines. Media can be provided with written information (van Zoonen & van der Meer, 2015). The crisis management Team should be positive in their outlook but at the same time should be empathetic towards those who are affected due to the crisis situation. It is necessary to clarify questions in order to minimise the spread of misinformation. While handling a crisis situation, the people responsible for handling the media should make themselves accessible.
However, it is necessary to stop speculating pertaining to the circumstances and one should tell the media of what they know as well as commit to information disclosure as one gets to learn the facts. It is also advisable to not repeat terminologies like devastating or crisis as it will agitate the public and targeted audience further. It is also recommended to avoid making off the record statements and use of Technical jargons. If a person is unsure of a certain fact it is advisable to refrain from saying no comments. As pointed out by Marini (2017), dealing with media is a test of patience and it is necessary to keep calm and not lose temper. It is also advisable for big corporations who wish to minimise the crisis situation to not stop journalists from writing the stories.
Conclusion
It is understandable that no company will be willingly submitting itself to issues that can escalate into a crisis situation. However, companies who have dealt with such issues have become able to identify opportunities that can be considered the outcome of the adversity. The current reportprovides an overview of a well-managed crisis response which is coupled with an effective recovery program for rebuilding the trust and loyalty lost by the company during the advent of a crisis situation.
References
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