Satish Reddy : Scribes Inc : excerpts from his writings on Crisis Management :
The success of any business or organization rests firmly on its reputation. That’s why businesses, non-profit organizations, governments and individuals hire public relations professionals to portray them as trustworthy and beneficial members of the society.
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 to repair or can potentially put them out of business for good.
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. When the reputation comes under attack, protecting and defending it becomes the highest priority. This is particularly true in today’s 24 hour news cycle, fuelled by government investigations, Congressional or parliamentary hearings, lawsuits, and “gotcha journalism”. When events like these happen, the media firestorm can quickly overwhelm the ability of the entity to effectively respond to the demands of the crisis. To emerge with its reputation intact, an organization must anticipate every move and respond immediately and with confidence. Companies facing such a threat will often bring in experienced crisis communications specialists to help prepare and guide them through the process.
Effective crisis communication strategies will typically consider achieving the following objectives:
- Maintain contact with your public
- Easy access to the media
- Show empathy for the people involved
- Streamline communication processes
- Maintain information security
- Deliver high volume communication
- Support multi-channel communication
Responding quickly, efficiently, effectively and in a premeditated way are the primary objectives of an effective crisis communication strategy and/or solution. Harnessing technology and people to ensure a rapid and co-ordinated response to a range of potentially crippling scenarios distinguishes a well thought out and executed plan from a poorly or ill-considered one. Crisis communication can play a significant role by transforming the unexpected into the anticipated and responding accordingly.
(Satish Reddy runs a his own PR agency ‘Scribes Inc’ catering to a host of individuals / newsmakers and corporate houses across the country)
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