crisis plan

Crisis Communication Outline

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Crisis Communication Outline

Usually, crisis communication is a subspecialty in the public relations realm normally meant to protect the image of an organization while undergoing some severe public challenge, which may largely dent corporate reputation (Bernstein, 2016). Organizations all over the world are vulnerable to crises of varied degree at any time, thus prior preparedness is quite necessary. It takes the efforts of crisis communication teams to handle and manage such crises whenever they occur in an organization. Properly planned or organized crisis communication helps defuse the severity of crises while the reverse contributes to exacerbation of the same. Planning for a crisis communication should entail pre-crisis, the crisis itself, and post-crisis moments, with specific focus on all the four stages of a crisis.

Pre –Crisis plan for a Fire Outbreak

Preparations made ahead of crisis are quite necessary, for this greatly help in the successful handling and management of the same when it actually occurs. This organization has put in place some prior preparedness measures regarding the occurrence of a future fire crisis (Seeger, 2006). A crisis communication team is in place to help with any form of impending eventuality. This team would work in collaboration with the emergency or crisis responders to salvage the situation.

This team mainly comprises of some senior employees of the organization such as the CEO, PR Director, and company secretary (attorney) among others. For effective and professional dissemination of information to relevant stakeholders, the communication spokesperson is designated from the communication team members. He or she undergoes some training on what stakeholders expects before, during, and after a crisis incident. This ensures that all forms of communications are as professional as possible (Baltes & Birsan, 2014). For instance, a reliable system meant for information dissemination is necessary. Moreover, stakeholders such as mainstream traditional media, social media, and the public, should get prompt, factual and flawless information from the communication team to restore confidence.

During Crisis Plan

Whenever a crisis breaks in an organization, the actual response officially commences. Communication team assesses the situation and conveys the same to stakeholders to avoid speculation. Appropriate communication crisis monitoring system put in place to ensure that information conveyed to the public is factual and stakeholders’ reaction to the same monitored through this system (Jordan-Meier, 2012). A vantage position within the organization is set for media briefings. Then key audiences are identified so that reaching them with relevant information and feedback mechanisms may be made easier.

Key audiences may include both internal and external stakeholders. These include employees of the organization, customers, distributors, suppliers, the government, media, the academia, and other special interest groups such as environmentalists. Usually stage three of a crisis is one of the most crucial stages, which demands very close attention (Seeger, 2006). Blame game or finger pointing among key stakeholders usually compounds this stage. The communication team should ensure that this never happens and if it must, it should never spill over to the public for if it does, then it throws the organization into great disrepute.

Post Crisis Plan

Normally, post crisis falls under the fourth and final stage of a crisis widely known as resolution stage. Normalcy and calmness gradually returns to the organization though all stakeholders would have learned some one or two lessons, especially the communication team (Baltes & Birsan, 2014). The communication team should remain wary lest the situation slips over again. Events in this stage heavily rely on the events of the previous three stages. Therefore, the communication team should aspire to maintain high levels of professionalism and ethics all through the four stages of a crisis.

Close analysis of how the entire disaster went on takes place. Assessment of what were right, what went astray, and possible areas to adjust to better the system happens (Bernstein, 2016). Communication team alongside other key stakeholders may come up with some resolutions such as enhancing training capacity of emergency responders and purchase of more recent and advanced firefighting equipment. Additionally, individuals responsible for the negligent cause of the fire should legally bear responsibility to avert future incidences resulting from negligence.

Discussion Question

Traditionally, stage three of a crisis is quite dramatic and dominated by blame game, usually shifting from one individual to the next in an attempt to find out why the disaster actually occurred (Jordan-Meier, 2012). This happens because none is ready to face reality and blame for the cause of the disaster. For instance, during the 2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill in Mexico, the three directors of the companies involved shamefully shifted blame from one director to the next. To prevent such shameful scenarios, the communication team armed with proper strategic communication should fully take charge with utmost professionalism and ethics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, several firms are currently underprepared to respond to or face emerging crises successfully. Normally, a crisis is an accidental incident, which all organizations are currently prone to and prior preparedness is necessary to restore corporate confidence and reputation. This may happen through successfully planned communication via the communication team. Crisis if handled both expertly and ethically leads to early resumption of normalcy, and safeguards reputation of the company before public. Precisely, communication team should remain vigilant prior, during, and after a crisis and particular attention accorded to all the four stages of a crisis.

References

Baltes, L., & Bîrsan, A. (2014, May). Crisis communication plan. In International Scientific Conference" Strategies XXI" (Vol. 2, p. 20). " Carol I" National Defence University.

Bernstein, J. (2016). The 10 Steps of Crisis Communications. Bernstein Crisis Management. Crisis management and reputation management by Bernstein Crisis Management.

Jordan‐Meier, J. (2012). Appearances do matter: Leadership in a crisis. Leader to Leader, 2012(66), 16-20.

Seeger, M. W. (2006). Best practices in crisis communication: An expert panel process. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 34(3), 232-244.