Crisis communications 2014 general
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This document discusses crisis communications and management. It defines a crisis as a threatening event that requires a short response time and is unexpected. Most crises stem from disputed issues or events and can often be anticipated. The goals of crisis management are to minimize impacts on reputation, finances, and long-term viability. Crisis communication aims to mitigate or eliminate the crisis through internal and external messaging. Advanced planning includes anticipating problems, developing communication plans, and preparing responses and messages. During a crisis, managing stakeholders, providing honest information, and learning from the experience are important.
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Crisis communications 2014 general
- 1. CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS ANSC 4800 Issues in Animal Agriculture April 1, 2014 Virginia White morgamv@auburn.edu
- 2. Risk vs. Issue Management Risk is the potential for experiencing a hazard Issue management is systematic 1. Forecast 2. Identify 3. Manage
- 3. Crisis • Event or series of events characterized by threat to important goals, short response time, and surprise. (Crisis Response Project, July, 2006, Kansas City, MO)e or series of events characterized by threat to important goals, short response time, and surprise. (definition from Crisis Response Project, July, 2006, Kansas City, MO)
- 4. Where Do They Come From? • Most crises spring from events or controversies. • Many find their roots in disputed issues. • Most can be anticipated.
- 5. Crisis Management • From a public relations perspective, the goal is to minimize a crisis’ impact on • Image • Financial health • Long-term viability
- 6. Crisis Communication • The exchange of messages with the goal of mitigating or eliminating a crisis. • Internal • External
- 7. Plan for the Worst Anticipate by looking into your discipline and business for problems and potential issues. Use your professional network. Brainstorm with peers to generate a list of things that can go wrong. Create a crisis communication plan.
- 8. Manage the Response • Should you respond? • Is the response public or private? • Is the response high, low, or no profile?
- 9. What’s the Truth? Who Cares? • Get your facts straight • Analyze the issue • Monitor the media • Identify your stakeholders • Talk to your internal audiences • Stay in touch with your external audiences
- 10. Manage Up, Across, and Down • Manage up • Everyone has a boss • Keep your boss informed • No one likes surprises • Manage across and down • Colleagues and support staff are talking • Don’t make them learn about it from the media
- 12. Develop Your Message • Messages should • Answer Questions Honestly • Convey regret/compassion for those affected • Acknowledge the organization’s role in the event • Describe corrective actions • Tell how people can help • Messages should not • Be hostile • Be defensive
- 13. Get Your Message Across • Lead with main points • Don’t use jargon • Stick to the facts • Correct inaccuracies • Ask the reporter questions • Offer to answer follow up questions • Never say, “No comment”
- 14. Learn From the Crisis • Evaluate your communications • Determine • problems within your system • gaps in strategies • policy revisions
- 15. Best Practices Model Strategic Planning Proactive Strategies Strategic Response Plan Pre-event Logistics Form Partnerships Be Accessible to Media Coordinate Networks Listen to Public Concern Communicate Compassion Accept Uncertainty Be Open and Honest Provide Self Efficacy National Center for Food Protection and Defense, University of Minnesota
- 16. PLAN FOR THE WORST To Manage Issues for the Best Results
Hinweis der Redaktion
- This version excludes the class exercise.
- We can’t avoid all crises, but we can prepare for the ones we anticipate.
- All crises spring from two sources: either something bad has happened or someone has taken exception to something you’ve said or done. Events can include tainted food, manure spills, employee mistreatment, poor animal handling, or any number of other incidents.It’s not a question of if, but when. Things happen. Not everyone is going to love you or everything you do. If you decide to work in agriculture at a university or for a government agency, you get a double scoop of issues and potential crises on your plate. No only do you get to deal with pesticide runoff in water and animal research issues, you also get to argue the value of research to undergraduate education and whether an American university professor really works all that hard.
- Alan Taffel, President,Taffel Communications said the goal for PR staff is to minimize the impact on the organization’s image, financial health, and long-term viability.In 2009, the Peanut Corporation of America was found to be the source of a massive salmonella outbreak that year and the year before. Nine people died and more than 700 people in 46 states fell ill due to food poisoning from eating products containing peanuts. The company closed its three plants and filed bankruptcy. The crisis was managed poorly and too late.
- Communication must include both internal and external messaging. Internal communications with employees is vital to a unified external message. What can go wrong if you don’t include employees in your communications loop?
- You can’t prevent or predict all potential crisis events, but you can put some basic plans in place for how you react to them. Think about the worst things that can happen and then think about what can be done about them. Know that the best you can achieve is common ground and a base of understanding.Managing crisis response is not about finding the right words and spokesperson to make the problem go away. It’s about getting your points across and communicating with all the stakeholders while you also try to resolve whatever it was that made it a crisis.“Crisis prone” refers to organizations that plan only for the crises they’ve already had. “Crisis prepared” refers to groups that take the time to really think about what can go wrong and put some plans in place for how they might deal with those events. Lab break-ins, manure spills, poor or vicious animal handling, an economist who uses his or her position to manipulate the futures markets are all things communicators have thought about and know can happen. (Source: Harvard Business Review, April 2003, 81).Most crises can be anticipated. Environmental scanning—the practice of looking out into your discipline and business to look for problems and potential issues—is one way to do that. Reading trade magazines and news reports are part of this. Use your professional network. For example, an Extension communicator in Georgia polled the EDEN network for resources following severe floods. Another example: In anticipation of future tornadoes, members of the EDEN network are planning how to get preparedness information out to the publics.The third item on this list could be the most fun and the most rewarding. Spending an hour with peers to talk about everything that could go wrong can generate a long list. The list becomes the basis for making a crisis communication plan.
- There are only two ways to handle issues. In the first, you try for widespread awareness and appreciation for your position. You go to great lengths to communicate with stakeholders and the public, hoping to polarize the debate and win supporters. At the very end, issue managers seek to have their issue and position validated in the media and to create a sense of urgency that some legislative solution be enacted to resolve the issue, hopefully in their favor. Examples of this include farmland preservation, indirect land use and the federal budget debate. The other path is to submerge the issue, to keep it off the public agenda and below the radar of legislators and influence leaders. In this case, issue managers avoid conflict, reduce issues of disagreement and are reluctant to engage. If an issue fails to advance in public awareness and support, it often goes dormant. In this case, media interactions are few and shallow.When managing a crisis, one of the first decisions is which of the two strategies to employ. Most institutions will favor the low profile approach, especially if the stakeholders identified with an issue hold little or no power to affect the institution. If the crisis is attracting unfavorable attention from stakeholders who have the ability to control resources, a more public approach often is called for.No profile often is not an option and has backfired for many people.
- You need to look at the issue from all sides, although many people are tempted to pick their position and spend all their energy reinforcing it. Look at all the potential charges, arguments and claims that could be made by all stakeholders and anticipate challenges. At the same time, look for positions you can agree with and use to show that you’re an open, rational person rather than a reactionary. For example, consider that one of the goals of an animal rights group is to improve conditions for farm animals. You can acknowledge that you share their good intentions before pointing out where some of their proposed solutions may be misinformed or unrealistic.Thanks to the Web and search engines like Google News, it’s easier to monitor the media than ever before. Think of it as a literature review and an essential part of stakeholder identification and issue analysis. Two considerations unique to news media are trend reports and pack journalism. The media love trends, and reports in one area of the country tend to lead to similar reports elsewhere. This becomes more common as media ownership concentrates among fewer companies.
- As a communications professional, you need to make sure that everyone is in the loop.Some of your chief constituents, and the ones most often overlooked, are your colleagues and the staff who support you. They, too, are watching to see how the crisis is being handled, and they will be among the most critical.Keeping everyone in the loop will make them feel valued and appreciated, and that will help in any reconstructive or mediation work to follow. They’re also the ones most likely to understand the rationale and can be counted on to defend the institution or organization at the grocery store, school or professional meeting where questions will come up.Don’t make them turn to the media for information. If it’s acceptable for public release, don’t let the media scoop your own people. Use internal channels such as an Intranet Web page, administrative memos or hotlines as appropriate.
- My friend Ann teaches English and has gathered these headlines over the years. These headlines didn’t lead to crisis, or even prolong a crisis, but they do help us consider our own messages and how we want to be portrayed.
- Don’t leave messages to chance. Consider all of the elements that you’ve prepared: fact gathering, media reports, institutional/organizational track record, primary and secondary audiences, stakeholders and information channels.Keep it cool, keep it conflict-free—don’t get hostile even in the face of hostility, keep it contained.
- Decide on three main points. Don’t use jargon and explain uncommon terms. If asked a question that would invite speculation, don’t answer it. Redirect the question to your main points and stick to the facts. If the reporter makes an inaccurate statement, correct it without saying whatever was incorrect. It’s okay to ask the reporter questions for clarification, but don’t try to be the reporter. Offer to answer follow up questions and provide contact information.The message you develop for the media should contain the same points you want to tell all your audiences. How you deliver the message will vary depending on your audience—media, colleagues, and clients to fit the audience is good—but the core message and key points remain the same. Consistency in message is key to crisis containment.Update and revise messages as more accurate information becomes available
- You can’t prevent or predict all potential crisis events, but you can put some basic plans in place for how you react to them. Think about the worst things that can happen and then think about what can be done about them. Know that the best you can achieve is common ground and a base of understanding.Managing crisis response is not about finding the right words and spokesperson to make the problem go away. It’s about getting your points across and communicating with all the stakeholders while you also try to resolve whatever it was that made it a crisis.The best possible scenario doesn’t include crises, but we don’t live there. We live in a world of uncertainty. If you choose to serve in a public relations capacity with an institution, agency or organization—or serve as the PR person for your own enterprise, then you should plan and practice how you will react in a crisis. We’ve very quickly reviewed the basics of responding during a crisis, but I encourage you to go deeper into this field and consider 10 best practices for risk and crisis communications in a high-risk environment.
- This crisis management model was developed by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense. The center is located at the University of Minnesota. It is part of a good issue management plan. An issue management plan includes issue monitoring, identifying, analyzing, strategic decision-making, implementing, and evaluating. The goal is to reduce the potential for an issue to become a crisis.