QUICK TIPS FOR "KEEPING COOL"
A monthly e-zine on crisis management brought to you by Judy Hoffman
Quote of the month: "I believe God gave us crises for some reason, and it certainly isn't for us to say that everything about them is bad. A crisis can be a momentous time for a team to grow -- if a leader handles it properly."
-- Mike Krzyzewski
Men's Basketball Coach, Duke University
WHAT TO DO IN THE FIRST HOURS OF A CRISIS
Uh-oh. It happened. That thing you dreaded. The “thing that could go wrong that would likely bring the media or angry/hostile people to your door” that you brainstormed with a crisis communications expert in a media training workshop last year.
What do you do in the opening hours of the crisis? What are your primary concerns? What actions do you and your colleagues need to undertake immediately if you are going to be able to respond well and preserve your organization’s reputation?
I am assuming here that your colleagues know what to do to address the situation if it is an operational incident (fire, spill, product contamination, evacuation of the facility, etc.). Your staff is busy undertaking their pre-assigned roles. Obviously you have to launch an investigation into what happened and when. But don’t assign all of your resources in this way. You need to have people for many other jobs.
The following are the other steps you need to remember to take:
1. Try to remain calm. Easier said than done among the incoming flak and the phones ringing off the hook. Remember that you have a crisis communications plan to guide you. (What? You don’t? NOW you can panic!)
2. Take whatever steps you can to address the needs of those who will view themselves as “victims” of this incident.
- If customers have to have product recalled (a) let them know quickly; (b) set up an easy system for them to use (c) apologize (d) issue them a coupon or give them a discount for their next purchase
- If neighbors of your manufacturing facility have been inconvenienced or frightened by an accidental release, activate your pre-trained team of employees to go door-to-door to (a) apologize (b) assess the extent of their problems (c) offer to pay for any required clean-up of their cars or homes (d) provide them with the name and phone number of a person to whom they can speak in the coming days to address any problems further
- If employees have been traumatized by a workplace violence incident (a) obtain aid for the physical problems of the attacked (b) dispatch an employee to personally inform the relatives and offer to transport them to their loved one’s side (c) call in your pre-arranged grief or trauma counselors to deal with the emotions of the survivors.
3. Answer the phones. Even if it is the media calling and you don’t have all the facts to give a full statement, tell them the basics of what you can confirm as true at the moment. Let them know that you intend to be responsive and promise to provide them with updates as soon as you know more.
4. Activate that “dark page” on your web site that you had enough foresight to establish before the crisis hit. The media increasingly expects companies to have the latest information available to them that way. This way you don’t have to wait for your web technology staff to make it to the office to set up a web site. You can do it quickly. Not only does it make you look competent, but it will save you and your staff from having to repeat yourself ad nauseum, answering the same questions over and over for each of numerous reporters. Without this type of easily accessible information, the media and the public will get really frustrated and assume the company is not going to provide what they need to know.
Of course this is not an exhaustive list of everything that needs to be done, but it will get you off to a good start in doing and saying the right things within the first few hours of a crisis. The goal of everything you do in response to a crisis is that your organization will be seen – when it is all over – as acting responsibly and responsively with the overall interests of people in mind.
Second Edition Note: I really appreciated the positive feedback to the inaugural edition. My special thanks to those of you who took the time to suggest topics for future editions (such as the one covered above). I hope those of you who made suggestions enjoyed your copy of the CD on "The Nastiest Media Tricks and How to Combat Them."
If you would like to forward this e-zine to any of your colleagues or friends whom you believe would benefit from it, you have my permission to do so. In fact, I wish you would! Anyone wishing to be added to or deleted from this free subscription, simply e-mail me at info@judyhoffman.com and let me know.
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'Til next month...KEEP COOL!
Copyright (C) 2004 JCH Enterprises
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