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Chapter5CrisisCommunicationLessonsonManagingCrisisUncertaintyEffectively.pptxEffective Crisis Communication
Chapter 5 – 10 Lessons on Managing Crisis Uncertainty Effectively
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Defining Uncertainty
Uncertainty – The inability to predict the future.
Lack of Information
Complexity of Information
Quality of Information
Crises create EPISTEMOLOGICAL and ONTOLOGICAL uncertainty.
Epistemological – Uncertainty from lack of knowledge.
Ontological – Uncertainty from a new future created by crisis – The future has little to no relationship with the past.
Lessons 1 - 3
Crises Can Start Quickly and Unexpectedly
Shouldn’t respond with routine solutions
The threat is perceptual
Lesson 4 Communicate Early and Often Regardless of Having Information or Not!
Because of uncertainty, accurate info is not there for stakeholders.
Effective strategies include making a list of potential questions.
What happened?
Who is responsible?
Why did it happen?
Who is affected?
What should we do?
Who can we trust?
What should we say?
How should we say it?
Lesson 5 Ethical Ambiguity During Crises Organizations should not purposely heighten the ambiguity of a crisis to deceive or distract the public
Ambiguity is “an ongoing stream that supports several different interpretations at the same time”, Weick (1995)
Ethical when – uses unbiased data to inform and contribute to the complete understanding
Unethical when – using biased or incomplete information to deceive
Lesson 6 Be prepared to defend your interpretation of the evidence surrounding a crisis
Lesson 7 Without good intentions prior to a crisis, recovery is difficult or impossible
Questions of Evidence
Questions of Intent
Questions of Responsibility
Lesson 8 If you believe you are not responsible, you need to build a case for who is
Lesson 9 Organizations need to prepare through simulations and training
Crises thrust people into unfamiliar roles.
Crisis demands can bring structures to their knees.
Organizations should train and prepare for crises.
Lesson 10 Crises challenge the way organizations think about and conduct their business
Crises create “Cosmology Episodes” – disorienting experiences in which beliefs and sensemaking structures are hampered. Weick (1993)
They can change how we think about the world.
Organizations and Stakeholders need information to reduce uncertainty.
Organizations in crisis often stonewall
Stakeholders are left wondering if they will get information needed to protect themselves
Media speculates
