By Michael Herman/chairman & CEO, Epley Associates
Inc.
In perusing recent news stories, it struck me that there often
is little difference in dealing with natural disasters and those
man-made. PR professionals dealing with multiple levels of
continuing crises that are of a more personal nature share a lot in
common with those handling earthquakes and aftershocks.
Triage
When dealing with multiple homegrown crises, the first
inclination is to lift your fists to heavens and cry, "Why me?"
That's OK. It's perfectly natural, so take a few minutes and get it
out of your system: Scream, holler, kick things...then focus.
What are the most immediate and vital areas of concern? Do an
audit, asking such questions as: Where are the problems? Where have
we, as an organization or as individuals, not done "the right
thing?" And where are the key areas in which we must "do things
right" to make amends?
Communicate
Get information out there and control, to the extent possible,
the content, format and complexity of your messages. Identify those
most affected -- internally and externally -- and where they will
seek information they can trust. Then get your information into
those channels and do it quickly, completely, honestly and as
personally as possible. While you must deal with and satisfy the
media's insatiable hunger for information, it cannot and must not
be your only avenue of interaction with those upon whom you depend
for short- and long-term survival.
Rebuild
If you've been effective in taking the first two steps,
rebuilding already has begun. As in any relationship, once trust is
damaged, it is difficult and time-consuming to re- establish. They
may forgive, but they won't forget. Accept the reality that it
won't be "business as usual" ever again.
Contact: Michael Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA, also serves as
the 2004 Chair of the PRSA Counselors Academy. He can be reached at
919.877.0877, [email protected].