Let’s say that you work for the Pennsylvania State University, and some of your duties include preparing others with a script in case of a crisis or emergency. You are the person others will look to when something goes wrong and how to appropriately handle the situation. In November 2011, the football assistant, coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested for 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys (Argenti, 267). You could say in this instance; you may have an enormous crisis on your hands. How would you respond? What would be your first call to action or step in handling the media and public’s opinion of this crisis?
While this example listed above is a little extreme, it could likely be something similar to what you, as a public relations professional, might have to handle in the future. For any crisis that your organization might be going through, there NEEDS to be a plan or process in place. This crisis communication plan should be a common standard in almost every single organization you work for.
By first planning ahead and becoming aware of potential crises, you are on a great path to becoming proactive. As you list the potential crises your company could have, be sure to have different individuals taking ownership of each crisis and checking with management for overview. You want to have a consistent plan and language within each crisis, but you will want to stray away from only having one person know all crisis information.
Once you have those plans in place, you will want to choose a location for all information to smoothly flow out of. You want all messages and updates to media and the public, to be immediate and consistent. Your organization should be putting the public first and deciphering what needs to be said right off the bat. Language through management and your spokesperson also need to be consistent, clear, and correct. You never want to omit information but studying up on what can be said about a situation to the public, is a must. The most important thing is that you show a caring and immediate response. In the end, all the public cares about is what happened and what you’re doing about it.
Be sure to think through this crisis communication plan as best as you can. Training employee’s and management to prepare them for an extremely likely crisis that could occur, is one of the best choices you can make for your company.
If you don’t already have a crisis communication plan in your business, you might have to be the first to ask why not? You might just save some reputation and face for your company in the process.
Be sure to comment below how you think today’s companies handle crises or what your current opinion is on crisis communication?
(P.S. Don’t be a Dwight)
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