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Question: Many government agencies have a reputation (whether deserved or not) of facing crisis communications with stonewalling or deliberate misinformation. What advice can you give to information officers in public agencies in regard to handling crisis communications?
ANSWER: With the same advice given to their counterparts in the corporate world: Be honest, be transparent and be in front of the story. According to Brandi North- Williams, public information officer for the City of Charlotte (NC) Solid Waste Services, there are four key elements to consider.
First, remember who you are ultimately reporting to. "As a government agency this is extremely important because these agencies are public servants," says North-Williams. "And the public expects, and has a right, to know what has happened."
Second, make sure all of the facts in the matter are gathered with speed and efficiency. North-Williams notes that public agency information officers "need to be diligent in getting explanations for everything and completely understanding the cause and cure for the problem."
Third, she points out the importance of stressing that the issue is an aberration and not business-as-usual. "While it is important to develop a plan for communicating, I am specifically talking about a plan of action for making sure that the problem, if possible, does not occur again," she explains. "This step must also include taking the appropriate actions to ensure it doesn't happen, such as policy changes."
Fourth, North-Williams stresses that it is important to communicate internally as well as externally. "Your employees can be your advocates in situations like this, and that is what you want," she says.
From her own perspective, North-Williams incorporated this four-step plan following an accident at her agency's property.
"Several years ago, we had our fleet of garbage trucks vandalized," she recalls. "A group of rowdy kids got in the trucks and drove them around like bumper cars, causing thousands of dollars in damages. When asked how this happened, we were completely honest: We left the keys in the trucks. This is a practice that is standard in many organizations where they have truck/bus fleets. The rationale is that if one caught on fire, we had to save the rest of the fleet. So, we left the keys in the trucks so that they could be moved quickly. Well, in this case it allowed the vandals to get in. After this happened, we increased security and developed a new plan of action for safeguarding trucks against fire damage and vandalism. That plan was shared with the public. We took the steps mentioned above and things went smoothly."
(Editor's note: Please join us for our next webinar on crisis management on April 26. Details can be found at prnewsonline.com)
Contact: Brandi North-Williams, bnwilliams@ci.charlotte.nc.us.
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